New Kids on the Base revised
by pezgirl1
Summary: Willow and Xander wake up in the SGC as children, they have no memories; only the physical scars of the past that they were banished from. SG1 have to deal with two six year olds, and a multitude of problems from bickering kids to magic-seeking Goa'uld.
1. Chapter 1

**New Kids On The Base**

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters

**A/N: I've revised all the chapters, some have been changed more than others but not enough to change the story, it just might be a bit confusing in later chapters as to why certain characters react the way they do, but you don't have to re-read it. I doubt I've change that much.**

Timeline: Two years after season 7 for buffy and early season 3 for Stargate.

SUMMERY: Amy sends Willow to another reality along with Xander; both are de-aged to 6 yr olds with hardly any memories of their previous lives. They don't know why Xander only has one eye or why strange things happen around Willow. All in all SG1 thinks this is all very strange! Especially when the two children seem to be having flashbacks, nightmares and sudden memories of their lives as young adults. Then Kinsey and NID get involve and everyone _knows_ that's never going to turn out well...well, at least not for the bad-guys anyway...

~*~

Outside the new Watchers' and Slayers' Council Willow ducked as a wave of energy came towards her, it passed over her head; she glared at the offender opposite and waved her hand sending the blonde witch flying backwards.

"Okay, Amy," she said, anger made her head throb painfully. "This is the last straw, you're finished."

This was one time too many; the witch was putting her girls in danger; not that they couldn't protect themselves of course- there were Slayers after all.

"You don't get to decide that," said Amy, her own voice was full of contempt and hatred that matched her eyes and facial expression as she got to her feet.

She started mumbling under her breath too quiet for Willow to hear, but loud enough for her to realize that the blonde was chanting a spell.

The redheaded witch conjured up rope and threw it at the witch; the blonde may be dangerous but she was still human and she didn't kill humans anymore. Not for the last three years anyway. She'd leave the witch's fate up to the Council, she was wiping her hands of the blonde.

She saw Xander running up behind Amy; she realised his intentions and watched as she drew her power up, Xander was going to disrupt the witch's spell. It was over soon one way or the other.

Amy threw her hands out in front of her as Willow's rope span towards her, at the same time as the rope bound the blonde the spell was finished and was thrown at Willow. She was nowhere near prepared for the spell, she tensed with sense of impending doom.

She saw Xander streak towards her.

A flash of blue light enveloped her, she heard a yell from Xander as he crashed into her, the spell hit soon after. It caught them both, she only had enough time, before passing out, to inwardly scold her best friend for his recklessness.

The first thing that Willow noticed when she woke up was that the surface she was lying on was not soft and warm, but hard and cold; she definitely wasn't in her bed.

She opened her eyes curiously and pushed herself up into a sitting position so that she could see more of her surroundings; but she couldn't see a thing, it was all dark.

The small redhead waved her hands in front of her face and smiled when she saw the outline of them, it wasn't too dark then; just so dark that she couldn't see anything but the outline of her hands when they were only two inches away from her face and…well, darkness.

She sprang to her feet and looked around, she saw nothing of course, the scan had been an impulse; Willow stretched her arms out in front of herself to see if there were any walls or obstacles in her way.

Her hands didn't collide with anything but just to be safe she kept them outstretched as she walked forwards cautiously. "Huh?" she murmured as her hands felt a hard surface; she felt the surface- either a wall or a door- and then the surface gave way and she fell forwards with a shocked yelp; she staggered slightly as she almost fell over.

Which would have hurt; so no falling over.

Light filled her eyes, she squinted and rubbed them tiredly before opening them again; she looked around in confusion, did she get lost or something? Mommy and Daddy were gonna be so cross, "Whoops," she mumbled to herself.

She looked around curiously, the walls that she could see were grey, "Wow, what happen to the colour around here? And where's Xander?"

Last she remembered they'd been playing in the playground at recess, she hoped that she wasn't going to be late for class.

Willow bit her lip and looked around, her gaze stopped on a man, who was as still as a statue, just at the end of the hall to her right; she looked around some more and found that he was the only person she could see at that moment.

She sighed and started walking towards the man, when he spotted her and jumped she froze in her tracks- obviously he hadn't expected her to be there.

"Stop there!"

Willow jumped in fright, she _hated_ it when people yelled- unless it was Xander but the voice didn't sound like her best friend's; it was deep and had a note of warning in it. The man was holding a gun which had previously been bound to his leg.

She looked at him anxiously, she was already working out a way to stay out of trouble...too bad she was rubbish at lying- she could try running, but she wasn't good at _that_ either; then a thought passed through her racing mind, she wondered where her mommy and daddy were.

She'd never been to this place before, she didn't think her parents had either; so maybe they didn't know where she was? Okay, so she was lost...no reason to panic, right?

What was she thinking! Of course there was a reason to panic...she was lost! She swallowed, eyes wide and chewed her thumbnail nervously- a habit she had yet to break despite her mom's scolding; she shifted from foot to foot; cheeks burning and mumbled, "W-Where am I?"

The soldier slowed and then stopped in front of her, his gun was angled towards the floor and he regarded her carefully, "How did you get here, kid?" he asked, sternly.

Willow shifted again with discomfort, pulled her thumb away from her mouth and replied, "I...I dunno...d'you...d'you know where my parents are?"

How would he know!? Well, she had to say something; he was a grown-up so maybe he _did_ know.

The soldier sighed, "Follow me," with that said, he turned on his heel and started walking.

The six-year-old redhead looked doubtfully at the man's back; follow him? To where? Her parents had always told her to _never_ talk to strangers...but if he just left her there how would she get back home? "But…I want my mommy," the quiet mumble went unheard. She started to feel worried, what if she never found her way home?

She realized that the soldier had turned around to see if she was following him, he looked at her with his arms crossed- like the way her mom did if she was upset, "I'm coming, but I wanna find my mommy…and my daddy, too...and also, I wanna go home, do you know where my house is? I think I know the phone number." She ran to catch up with him, still babbling desperately.

"Ooookay," he drawled, then he continued walking. She followed.

Willow looked around as she turned a corner, the same boring grey walls! Didn't these people know what 'colour' was? "I don't like it here," she muttered under her breath. "I want my mommy and daddy." Her chest felt tight as she wondered whether or not she'd ever find her parents; what if they didn't know she was away from them? There was no 'what if' about that- they were probably away doing work.

They'd never notice.

He looked at her and smirked.

"Sure, have to take you to the general first," he said shortly, then he turned back around.

General? What was that? Another word for something that she hadn't found out yet? Her over-stimulated mind raced as her imagination took over. It was probably one of those 'time-out' rooms that the kids talked about in her first grade class...she'd never been there before- but it was for naughty kids and naughty kids were...she gulped...punished.

A lump formed in her throat and she felt her face burn, "I don't want to go to the general, how was I s'posed know if I was doing somethin' bad?" she muttered as she struggled to hold back tears.

He kept on walking, obviously not hearing her. She felt her nose tickle and she sniffled, wiping her watery eyes she looked behind her. No one else was following, so she couldn't ask anyone else to help her.

She pushed her near-panicked emotions down which was rather futile when her imagination worked over-time to make her feel worse.

Her parents would probably forget about her; they had their work and they loved that more than they loved her, that was obvious enough. They never listened to her and they always broke their promises.

Memories of the missed Zoo trip entered her mind and she fought down the bitter disappointment; stupid parents...stupid work.

At least when she was there with them she could remind them that she existed, she was always doing something to make them listen to her but it never really worked.

She wondered what Xander was going to do without her, she knew how she'd feel if her best friend just vanished one day; she'd be miserable. If there was one person she could count on to miss her it would be Xander Harris.

After all, they'd been best friends since they were three. She tried to think of a memory that didn't have Xander in it but she never could...it seemed that he was always there from the beginning.

Xander was gonna be really sad and his parents- she gasped quietly in mounting horror- oh no, how could she make sure he was looked after by _somebody_ if she was away? Her parents would probably never let him into the house to stay overnight, he'd never be able to get away from his bad parents.

He'd have to stay there all the time, where would he go if his dad got mean again?

Images of Xander curled up and sleeping on the ground outside in the freezing cold filled her mind, her breath hitched inside her throat. Her friend might think she didn't love him any more; every time his parents said something to him that made him feel bad he gone over to her the next day and she had to tell him that it wasn't true.

No one could tell him that now; he was always gonna think that he was 'stupid' or 'a nothing' as his father had yelled at him.

Scared and miserable for her best friend, she started chewing her thumbnail again, she looked at the floor as she thought of Xander and of her parents who would never even notice that she was gone.

The soldier had turned around again and was alarmed to find that tears were streaming down the girl's cheeks, he had the impression that if she could, the girl would have been hiding behind her hair; but the waist-length red hair was tied into two plaits and flung over her small shoulders. He walked up to her and bent down, "Hey, c'mon, you'll be okay."

Head down, thumbnail caught in her teeth, tear-soaked cheeks, she looked like a picture of despair; "You want to find your parents, right?"

After a pause, she nodded slightly and mumbled an affirmation, but to him it was something unintelligible; she raised her head and looked at him before taking her thumbnail away from her mouth. She held her arms out expectantly obviously wanting him to pick her up; "Here we go then."

He hooked his hands under her arms and lifted her up until her head was in level with his nose; then he secured her to him and felt her arms wrap around his neck.

He hitched her up into a secure position and walked to the general's office.

Willow wiped her eyes quickly, she was going to go home! If they didn't let her she'd...she'd...scream, she'd scream so loud that everybody would hear and they'd _have_ to send her home!

And then, she'd be back with Xander again.


	2. Chapter 2

Xander shifted slightly and he frowned, he knew that his mattress wasn't as hard as the surface he was currently lying on. He should open his eyes and check where he was, he really should; but he had had a really nice dream and he didn't _want_ to wake up. Dreams were a nice, happy place to be.

No yelling and _no_ beer.

He shivered and curled up tighter, had his blanket fallen off?

He stretched out his right arm and felt around for the covers, he continued searching, "Stupid blanket," it must have fallen off him. Xander sighed tiredly, now he _had_ to open his eyes or couldn't see to get the blanket. "Oh, fudge-munch."

He opened his large brown-hazel eye, turned over-

-and yelped as he rolled off the counter, he hit the floor with a muffled thump and didn't move; he whimpered as his arm throbbed with pain, he'd landed right on it. He swallowed back tears and sat up, cradling his bruised arm to his chest. He looked down at it and poked the limb; then he rubbed it and decided to stand up, his dad wouldn't want to see him sad.

Xander looked around the room, he frowned in confusion, "Oh," he was gonna be in lots of trouble now, he wasn't in bed, he wasn't even in the _house_. The thought was quickly forgotten as he caught sight of a refrigerator…well, it was a _lot_ bigger than his parent's refrigerator but it really did look like one; and those things always had food in them.

He rushed over to the huge metal box and tugged the door open…then his face fell as he saw that it was full of boxes. He closed the door and scowled as his tummy rumbled with hunger.

"Stupid 'fridge, why would anyone put boxes in there?" he pouted as he turned around. "I'm in a kitchen, there's 'posed to be loads of things to eat 'round here. But only if it's not my house." He looked around him and blinked as he saw boxes with pictures of food on them.

He padded over to a box that was already open, he grasped the edge of the box; hoisted himself up and peered inside and saw piles of fruitcake neatly stacked together. He gaped at it all hungrily and then reached inside; when he failed to reach a packet and pulled himself up further using the box's edge and made a fierce attempt at grabbing one.

"Wah!" he fell into the box, arms flailing and landed on the cakes, the cakes squished underneath him as he looked at the inner walls of the box; he sat up quickly and grinned, laughing, "Cake! All for me!"

He grabbed one of the cakes that weren't too squashed and ripped at the packaging, a big, huge grin plastered across his faintly flushed face.

Teal'c was a big guy physically, not with fat, but muscle and big bones, but that was beside the point. Point was, he was big and usually the bigger people were the more they ate and _he_ was no exception. Jaffa or no.

The Jaffa pushed open the doors to the mess hall, otherwise known as the commissary which was where the food was kept; now, he would never admit it but his stomach was growling with hunger, he needed nourishment. The clock on the wall indicated that it was a half hour before everyone else started entering the mess hall; he grinned inwardly and made a beeline for the kitchens.

His friends were otherwise occupied and were unable to follow; Daniel Jackson was immersed in his artefacts, Major Carter was just finishing her latest experiment and said that she would catch up to him whilst Jack O'Neill was talking to General Hammond; so for the time being he was to eat alone.

He stopped suddenly, very alert to the slightest noise when he heard a mumble, he walked further into the kitchen and listened for the noise again; he strained to hear but there was nothing. Most strange, he raised an eyebrow slightly and was about to turn away when he heard a loud rustling.

He tensed, ready for a fight; he leapt towards the open box gracefully and then stopped. There was a dark-haired child with his fingers stuck in his mouth, he looked as if he had paused in mid-chew, his big brown…eye was carefully fixed on Teal'c as the large man towered over him.

Teal'c studied the young boy curiously, then he asked, "What is your purpose here and where are your mother and father?" he watched as the boy slowly pulled his fingers out of his mouth and gave him a blank look. His face was covered in fruitcake and bits of raisins.

Suddenly the boy grinned and leapt up from his seated position, "Hi!" his small, food-covered hands grasped the rim of the cardboard box firmly. He paused and a shy look came onto his face, he stooped down and came up seconds later holding a handful of fruitcake. "I'm not hungry no more, you can have it. Cake makes peoples happy and you look kinda grumpy."

Grumpy? Teal'c, astonished, raised an eyebrow. The boy just grinned wider.

Most strange indeed.

"All I'm sayin', general-" Jack O'Neill was interrupted when a knock came at the closed door of General Hammond's office. He sighed inwardly, if that was Carter with more science-babble, he was gonna-

"Come in," called the balding man as he looked away from the only other person present in the office.

The door opened and an airman walked in with a redheaded girl firmly attached to him, "General Hammond, I found her walking around the halls. Don't know how she got here."

Speechless didn't cover it; he looked at his bald SO and saw that he looked as confused as he felt.

"W…well, is she a threat to base?" he asked dubiously.

The airman glanced at the little kid, who blinked nervously at them, and then back up at the general, "No, sir. I doubt it."

Did she come through the 'gate? Or was she from earth, maybe she just walked into the base out of curiosity. No way, that would be impossible, there were guards outside the complex; Jack looked at the airman, "Does the kid know?"

The airman frowned, "I doubt that, sir. She was pretty confused and upset back there." he hitched the kid up higher and smiled at her.

Jack sighed, crazy stuff was always happening in this base. But this was stranger than normal…at least to him, anyway. He walked over to the pair and peered at the child; she wore a grey, pink-striped tracksuit; brightly-coloured sneakers and had long red hair tied into two plaits which were pulled away from a cute and slightly round, porcelain face which was slightly dotted with freckles.

He heard the child sniffle, then she pulled away from the airman slightly and turned to look at Jack; she glared at him defiantly, green eyes dark with anger.

"You better let me go!" she warned them with a level of seriousness that few children possess. "I mean it, if you don't I'll scream and you'll get into lots of trouble; so you can't send me to the general 'cause I wasn't being bad." Pale face reddened with high emotions, she finishing rambling and continued glaring at them all mutinously.

Jack blinked in confusion, huh?

General Hammond went up to the child, his face was already softening as he looked at the half angry, half scared expression; no doubt reminding him of his granddaughters, Tessa and Kayla, "What's your name?" he asked gently.

The redhead looked silently at him for a few moments with a conflicted look on her face, "W-Willow…a-and I wasn't being bad so you shouldn't send me to the general, that's not fair."

Didn't she know that-

"Willow, I am the general," he informed her kindly. "And you're not in any trouble, we just want to find out how you got into our base."

He seconded that! The security here wasn't dreadful enough that a kid got in undetected. Actually it was of the highest security…mostly.

Willow licked her lips, "A base?"

Hammond replied to that, "A military base, a secret one at that."

A _damn_ secret one.

Jack nodded and asked, "Y'know, this base doesn't let just anyone in, there are people outside, and in, this base that stop people- a-and kids- that aren't supposed to be in here from getting inside this place."

And out, he added silently.

Hammond nodded, "Exactly, you're not in any trouble. We just want to know if you remember how you got into our base."

She shook her head, "I don't know; it's quite strange really. I just…woke up here!" she smiled at the sheepishly, looking a little more relaxed but still wary. "But I don't know anything, so, can I go now?" her small, pale hand tugged at her tracksuit sweater anxiously.

She just woke up inside their high security base? What the hell-

They turned to the door again as it opened for the second time in the last half hour; they heard it before the door had even been fully opened.

"Catch me! Catch me if ya can!" a little boy's laughter hit their ears before they saw that Teal'c was restraining a young boy half-heartedly as the little guy jumped up and down like Tigger on Speed. "Aww, you got me! Well, we can play again…right? Right?"

Willow's face lit up into a huge grin, "XANDER!"

A pause, then the boy stopped still and a grin spread across his face as he turned and looked up at the redhead, "WILLOW!"

The general looked amazed and confused…maybe a little angry too.

_Two kids_!? Jack sighed wearily. "For crying out loud."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three- revised

As Willow hugged her friend she noticed something nagging at her inside her head; it made her feel kinda fuzzy. As she clung to Xander she looked in the direction in which that feeling was emanating from.

Her attention was diverted as someone knocked at the door again.

"Come," called the general automatically.

Sam leapt into the room, hair flew into her eyes and she brushed it away. She shut the door after her, "Sir, I-

She caught sight of Teal'c and Jack, "Oh, um. you know I could come back later-

"Go on," said General Hammond.

Jack smirked inwardly, she hadn't even noticed the new occupants in the room. Must have been some experiment.

"I just going to say that the experiment's going really-

Then, she caught sight of the kids and froze in mid-sentence "Sirs?"

Jack smiled boyishly, "We got some unexpected visitors, Carter. I'll bet they'll just love _you_." He gave her a smug smile.

The blonde looked confused, "How-

The rest of the conversation was lost on Willow as her eyes fell on the big black guy that had brought Xander into the room, curiously she really looked at him. Why was he giving her fuzzies? She continued looking at him and unconsciously a thin ribbon of her magic went on towards Teal'c, it hung around him and started probing and analysing whatever it was that made him different.

She was oblivious to the fact that Xander had pulled away from her and was now yammering away to his heart's content, she ignored him as her magic scanned over the man that she'd been looking at; he looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.

Why was he so different?

But it wasn't really him, not really. So what was it?

Her magic sought out the reason of her discomfort and her chest tightened as it zeroed in on the thing wriggling around in the man's stomach; what was it!?

Why did the man have a worm in his stomach, wasn't it kinda odd? Why was it there? All these questions bubbled up in her inquisitive mind, all of which her magic was honed into answering.

Willow didn't notice Xander's concerned questioning as she stared at the man's stomach; it was a parasite, it wasn't supposed to be there…it was bad, evil.

She struggled to breathe as the parasite's overwhelming evil touched her magic; she gasped as she heard it whisper into her mind, it felt oily.

It really _was_ evil!

She saw Teal'c's eyes widen in surprise before he disappeared out the door; he didn't belong here! He was evil, he was gonna kill them all.

* * *

*rewind several seconds*

* * *

Jack walked over to the young girl concerned, he knelt down in front of her and smiled at Xander; the little guy had started to get rather upset when his friend had refused to talk to him.

He walked away and Jack heard him say, "Don't she like me no more?"

"No, I'm sure she does," he heard Sam say kindly. "Maybe she doesn't feel well."

He looked at Willow and saw that she was struggling to breathe, her face was a whiter shade of pale. He turned to the others, "I think we should get her down to the infirmary; she's not breathing too well."

When he turned back his heart almost ejected from his body, the little girl's eyes were pools of empty blackness, "Whoa!" he breathed, then he noticed that they were focused on the only person behind him.

Teal'c.

Jack leapt up, "Teal'c!"

He heard a short, sharp yell before he saw that Teal'c had been flung along the hall, "Whoa Nelly," he muttered.

"Keep him away from me! He's evil!" the girl shrieked in panic. She struggled furiously as Jack bent down hugged her to him in an effort to…well, do anything. She looked like she was about to do some serious damage. and was _he_ gonna 'react'?

Hell no!

Well, only as a last choice.

"Willow, what're you doing?" Xander exclaimed, upset. "Talc's nice, why did you do that? How did you do that!?" his rapid-fire questions filled that room as well as the sounds of glass shattering.

Sam glanced at Jack in shock and confusion, "Sir?"

Jack just looked at the kid, feeling a little out of his depth, "Uh, I don't think she likes T."

Speaking of, Teal'c walked back into the room. he was as stoic as ever but Jack could tell that his pride had been bruised a little, "Are my services no longer wanted here?"

Jack held onto the wriggling kid tightly, "Of course they are, Teal'c. Any idea why Willow thinks you're evil?"

A muffled cry came from the girl in his arms, "He's not supposed to be here! Evil snakes, they're all evil…they wanna make me do stuff!"

"Sir, I think she's talking about Teal'c's symbiote," exclaimed Sam immediately. Then she frowned perplexed.

Junior?

"She only just got here," said the General. "How does she know about it?"

Jack ducked his head down and spoke directly into Willow's right ear, "Teal'c's not evil, the thing inside him is. But he's not. The snake isn't going to get you; it can't and it won't."

"But its evil," mumbled Willow, starting to lessen her struggles. "I could feel it, it's really evil." His damn knees were beginning to ache, he pushed the thoughts away.

Jack nodded, "It is, but it can't hurt you now." He started stroking her hair lightly as she sniffled.

He was surprised at himself; usually if he'd seen black eyes he'd freak out…unless it was Thor of course…maybe it was just because the black eyes were on a child; a child that just seemed to be scared stiff. She was still a threat- well, she certainly looked like one with those creepy, dark, empty eyes of her- but nothing an introduction wouldn't cure.

Jack pulled away from her enough so that she could look at him properly- he noticed that her eyes were now normal, human green again. He was relieved, "Now, okay. This Teal'c guy is my friend; he has to have Junior in him because otherwise he'll get sick-

"Junior?"

Jack broke out into a smile, "Yeah, that's the name I gave it. Junior…or 'little worm guy'." Which he didn't really use, but…

Willow blinked up at him curiously, "Can…can I call it Junior, too?"

He received a wad of tissues from the general and started cleaning her nose, which was now smeared with blood, "Yeahsureyoubetcha."

The redhead smiled and nodded, "Okay, just s'long as it doesn't touch me again."

Jack frowned in confusion at the girl sitting on his lap, "What do you mean, kiddo?" Touch?

"I just felt it," she said shivering. "It said it's gonna be real bad one day, do really bad stuff," she looked down. "I think it liked me, dunno why though."

Jack looked up at Teal'c who was looking slightly guilty on behalf of his symbiote. Then the colonel glanced at the general who was just plain bewildered.

"What in the world is the child talking about?" asked the balding man, confused. He looked at the soldier who'd brought her in. "I thought she wasn't a threat?"

The man opened his mouth, "I...I don't know what to say, sir."

Jack looked away from him, he knew how the man felt.

"Is there somethin' wrong with Willow?" asked Xander, he stared up at Sam while he clung onto her legs tightly.

"I-I'm sure she's fine, sweetie," replied Sam ruffling his dark hair, but her eyes were fixed warily on the child. She turned to the general. "Sir, I don't think these two are from Earth, no human could have eyes like that. Plus, they both know each other so it's not just Willow."

"I concur," Teal'c put in stoically.

"We are too from earth," protested Willow indignantly. "We're people…a-and stuff." Fiddled with her shirt again and then shook her head and hid her face in Jack's shirt.

"Where you live, do people have black eyes?" asked Sam sceptically.

"What'd you mean?" Asked Willow in confusion, she'd lifted her head from his shirt momentarily.

Sam blinked, "Well, you did just send Teal'c flying outta the room."

The young redhead frowned, "Did not."

Jack raised his eyebrows, she didn't know that she'd done that to Teal'c? She had to know about that sorta stuff.

Denial?

Sam looked at the redhead intrigued, eyeing her like a new piece of technology "She obviously has some telekinetic abilities...she knows about Teal'c's symbiote."

Willow blinked, "Tele- I don't know what that is but I'm not it...no, no, I'm just Willow Rosenberg a-and that's all I am, just me...m'not an alien 'cause that would be weird," she looked at Teal'c. "Not that you're weird...o-or anything." She wrung her hands nervously. "Me an' Xan are too from earth-

"Uh huh! Uh huh!" agreed the boy with gusto.

-we're not from Mars or anythin', wouldn't want to live there," she babbled on rapidly. She didn't notice the others looking at her amazed. "We like where we live...e-e'cept frogs 'cause they're just yucky and icky and gross and-

"Whoa! Breathe, kiddo!" exclaimed Jack, half shocked, half amused. "How can you talk so much? I don't think I even saw you breathe."

Willow caught her breath, face pink, and pouted before she started sulking.

The redhead's friend grinned, "That's 'Willow-babble,' you have to learn how to know what she's sayin' 'cause she talks real fast."

Willow went red and threw the boy a glare, he failed to notice it though because a second later he was puffing up his chest and looking very proud of himself, "But _I_ know what she's saying 'cause we been best friends since we was three."

The redhead smirked, "'We 'were'', Xander!"

He gave her a blank look, "We were what, Will? What?"

Willow sighed in exasperation, "You said 'we been best friends since we was three' and that's not right...you shoulda said 'We _have_ been best friends since we _were_ three.'"

"Oooohhh! Now I get it!" he exclaimed brightly.

"Whoa 'kay, we're getting a little off-topic here," complained Jack. "So, you don't think that you were the one that sent Teal'c away?" he said this to Willow.

Xander snorted, "Not 'less Will lives in outta space." He hugged the blonde's leg and stared up at her with his big brown eye.

Colonel O'Neill sighed, It looked like the kid didn't realise what she'd done.

Jack saw a flash of adoration already beginning to appear on his 2IC's face, it was Cassandra all over again...well, hopefully not _exactly_.

Speaking of Cassie, he hoped that there wasn't a bomb planted in them somewhere…or anything else too dangerous.

Looking at Willow, he remembered her inky black eyes and Teal'c flying out of the room for no apparent reason. The only reason was that just maybe the little girl in his arms wasn't quite as harmless as she looked.

He looked at general Hammond, "Sir, I think it would be best if we take these two little munchkins to infirmary; y'know, get 'em checked out." For any bombs, or to find anything that wasn't right, he added silently. If they were dangerous he'd want to know- and the girl, whether cute or not seemed pretty dangerous to him.

They'd find out soon enough.

The general nodded, "Take them down to see Doctor Fraiser, then. Dismissed."

The soldier that had brought the girl in opened the door, the girl leapt out of Jack's arms and grabbed onto the soldier's leg, "Thanks for bringing me here, sir."

Oh, come on! How could anyone resist these adorable little kids when they came out with something like that?

The soldier grinned down at the kid and knelt down to hug her, "It's Simon, kiddo. Just call me Simon."

Willow grinned bashfully, "Okay, Simon. I will." She watched him walk out of the room and then she ran back to Jack and hugged him as she collided with him at the same time.

"Oof!" A little of Jack's breath was expelled from his lungs as she did. A few seconds later he bent down and scooped her up. "C'mon, we're going to the infirmary now."

He turned back to everyone else and saw that Sam was carrying Xander; he felt a little more pressure on his right shoulder as Willow leant around him and said, "Um, Teal'c? M'sorry I sent you out the room."

"It was not your intention to harm me in any way, therefore I do not wish to seek retribution," he bowed his head at her solemnly. "It would also be wrong for me to attempt to do so, child."

Willow scrunched up her face in confused amusement, "Huh? Oh, ah, no my name's Willow Rosenberg." she wriggled around a bit, obviously unable to stay still.

"My apologies."

Xander started bouncing a little, "I'm Xander Harris! And I'm gonna make everything funner for you 'cause you still look kinda grumpy."

Sam snorted, a smile spread across her face, "Now, now, he's not 'grumpy' he just expresses himself in a different way to you and me."

Xander blinked and had a blank expression on his face, "Huh?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow for the zillionth time, it seemed to them, whilst Sam and Jack shared a grin.

If this was going to be anything, it would be fun. They knew that.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four- revised

Janet Fraiser was updating an SGC personnel's medical file when the telephone on her desk rang shrilly; grimacing slightly at the noise she snatched up the receiver, "Dr. Frasier's office."

She remained silent, listening to the person on the other end of the line, "Okay then…uh huh…just make sure it's kept that way; don't want any bugs flying around this place." She smiled before hanging up.

Not a second after the call she heard Colonel O'Neill's loud voice outside her office door, she sighed and glanced at the semi-finished report; she'd have to finish it later. The auburn-haired woman rose from her chair and made her way to the door.

She wondered what trouble SG1 had gotten into _this_ time.

* * *

When Janet stepped out of her office she was surprised to find herself looking at the Colonel kneeling down and talking to a little boy with an eye-patch on, she smirked as she realized what was going on.

"Xander, I mean it," reprimanded Jack sternly. "You do not do that again." He was looking very serious but it was all tinged with a little amusement.

"'Xander, I mean it! You do not do that again!'" Xander repeated teasingly. He had a big grin plastered across his mucky face, his hair was dark and rather messy.

Jack sighed in exasperation, "I'm serious, Xander!"

"'I'm serious, Xander!'" he echoed back while bouncing on his toes.

"Stop repeating me!"

"'Stop repeating me!'" the boy said back mockingly. He threw a pleased look at the other child in the room.

Janet blinked dubiously as she alternated between looking at Xander and then the other child; what in the world was going on? Shaking her head she cleared her throat to get their attention.

Just then, Daniel walked into the room and closed the door, "Hi…uh," he caught sight of the kids. "What's going on here?" he asked in confusion.

Jack raised his eyebrows sardonically, "Daniel! Finally managed to get yourself away from your rock now, have we?"

Daniel scowled, "Artefacts, Jack! Artefacts!" he pouted as Jack turned back to Doctor Fraiser.

"We're just telling Fraiser what's happening, so tune in and you'll find out."

"Hey Doc," greeted the Colonel with false cheeriness. He glared at the boy pointedly as he said, "This is Xander."

Xander grinned, "Hi, Miss. Doc-lady!" he threw a triumphant look at Jack and skipped over to her before grasping her hand tightly.

Sam bit back a grin and nudged Willow forward a little, "This is Willow." The young redhead smiled shyly at her.

Then the girl glanced at Daniel curiously, before looking back up at her.

Cute kids and all, but what were they doing here? She didn't remember hearing the klaxons go off at all in the last hour, so they obviously didn't come through the stargate; she looked at the leader of the team, "Colonel?"

Jack glanced quickly at Sam before turning back to the doc, "They're visitors, unexpected ones, at that," he smirked at Daniel.

How'd they get into the SGC?

The colonel, it seemed, had read her mind, "Don't ask me how they got here." He looked at the little redhead doubtfully. "The general wants them checked over, ya' know just in case…" he looked at her pointedly.

Cassandra and the Naquada, yup she got it.

"Of course, Colonel," she replied, she led the little boy by the hand over to the nearest bed. Then she hooked her hands under his shoulders and lifted him onto it. "Now, you just stay there."

He smiled at her brightly, he looked cute in his oversized blue and black Snoopy top and red drawstring pants

"'kay, so we've got two kids in the SGC," Daniel stated dubiously.

Jack rocked back on his heels, "Ya huh, pretty much."

Xander swung his legs and looked intently at his friend who was also lifted onto the bed right next to him, "What now?" he said restlessly.

Janet smirked slightly as she took out her stethoscope, "Okay, Xander. I'm going to put this to your chest…it might feel a bit cold."

His eyes were wide with curiosity as he stared at the instrument; the girl next to him looked like she was thinking.

"Oh I know!" cried Willow excitedly. "That's a stethoscope." She had a big grin on her face.

Janet smiled back, "That's right, Willow. So, do you know what it does?"

The girl scoffed, "Yep! I play doctors with Xander all the time! If you put it over your heart then you can hear it beating."

"Oh cold!" gasped Xander, surprised as Janet placed the disk onto his chest. He looked at the disk curiously.

The doctor sucked in a sharp breath as something caught her eye, she shook it off temporarily.

Janet listened as she moved the disk around, nothing but a normal human heartbeat; if you didn't count the-, "Do you wanna listen?" she asked the boy as she took the ear pieces out.

His eye widened, "Okay!" he let her put the ear pieces into his own ears and then she told him where to put the disk.

A few seconds later, "Neat, I can hear my heart beat!"

After a while he reluctantly gave the stethoscope back, Janet moved to the side to check Willow out. After that she needed to run more tests; better to be safe than sorry.

Especially in the SGC.

* * *

Janet clinked off the penlight and moved it away from Willow's eye, everything was completely normal…except that colonel O'Neill had told her that, very briefly, her eyes had been pitch black.

Strange.

What was just as strange was the scar on her throat; she was starting to get worried, how did they get all these scars; Xander had scar that looked years old; some looked weeks old.

She swallowed hard as bile rose up in her throat; this was beginning to look like an abuse case; she was glad that she hadn't called attention to it- SG1 reacting to this in front of the kids was not something that they needed.

Willow smiled brightly and swung her legs backwards and forwards. Janet couldn't resist a smile back.

She moved to the boy and grinned before she said, "Xander, that is a very nice eye-patch you got there! Did you get it for Halloween? Ya' know, as a pirate?" If he even _knew_ what Halloween was.

Xander blinked and touched the patch, "I dunno, I guess. Not sure really, I never really thought about it."

Huh? "Okay, well, I'm going to have to take it off so that I can check your eyes," she explained carefully. She reached up and grasped the material.

"Okay," he shrugged as she did so.

Then she pulled it off. And her eyes widened in shock and horror, "Uh…"

"What happened to your eye!?" the redheaded girl wailed in fear.

The window-mirror shook in its frame slightly, though no one noticed this.

"What'd you mean?" asked Xander suddenly scared. He felt upwards gingerly towards his eye.

A second later the hall outside the Infirmary was filled with the sounds of Xander's terrified screaming…two seconds later and another child's voice was added to the noise blaring out from the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five- revised

Jack and his team made their way back to the Infirmary in a less-than-happy mood, the reason for that was that Hammond had thought it best to let the 'higher ups' know about the two children, they _had_ just appeared out of thin air in a high-security base under a damn mountain, he understood, really.

But he was still pissed.

And how was George gonna explain the children's appearance?

Jack just hoped that, somehow, the general would find a way to omit the _tiny_ little detail of Willow's eyes going black; not to mention the telekinesis thing she had going for her.

He was surprised that Sam hadn't asked if she could study the kid, in a non-barbaric way of course, still this was something a scientist would love to get involve with…apparently, anyway.

But nope, she'd just been going on and on, either about the theories of what might have brought them to the base or how 'cute' and 'adorable' the children were. And he silently agreed with her.

_That's_ what had him worried; maybe he had a bad influence on her.

His thoughts and his team's nattering were sharply interrupted as distant sounds of a child crying met their ears; they swapped concerned and worried looks, before breaking into run towards the noise.

And the infirmary.

Xander's sobs and cries rang in her ears as she hugged him, his face pressed into her shoulder as she rubbed his back. She was completely baffled, she knew this kid, maybe both children, were abuse cases; it was too obvious for any contradiction- one of the things she didn't understand was why the boy was so surprised.

Didn't he know that he'd lost his eye? It was most likely partially healed; with the patch over the socket it was obvious that he'd been to the hospital for it, therefore it must have happened a while back.

So why did he seem so surprised? Why was Willow so surprised? She had to have known about him, the girl was very bright for her age, but when she'd seen the state of her friend's eye she had been almost as scared and upset as he was.

The small redhead was clinging on to Janet's sleeve tightly as she stared at her friend; her face was ashen, eyes bright with shock.

As Janet sat on the bed between the two children, she looked at them both and hugged the boy closer as the girl hid her face in her arms.

"Is he going to be okay?" she asked anxiously. "He doesn't have both his eyes, why?" she looked up at the doctor questioningly.

"I don't know, sweetie," Janet replied as she hugged them both. One thing was for sure, if their parents ever decided to come and find them both she'd make damn sure that these kids never had to go back to them.

How could anyone harm children? These two were the cutest things…

Janet and Willow jumped as the door to the infirmary opened suddenly, the boy was too upset to notice; he just kept sobbing into her shoulder.

Lucky the sudden noise didn't scare Xander even more than he already was.

"What's going on?" asked Jack as he scooted in quickly. His team was right beside him in seconds.

Willow jumped off the bed and ran to him, he looked down at her as she grabbed his hand tightly, "Xander's eye has gone, it's not there anymore. Can you help, please? Can you?"

Sam frowned in confusion and looked at her friend, "Janet, what's she talking about?"

Janet didn't say anything for a moment, what could she say in front of these kids without freaking them out more? "That eye-patch Xander was wearing…"

The blonde blinked, "Yeah…"

"That wasn't a toy," the auburn-haired nurse explained. "It was given to him by a hospital."

A beat and then Sam's eyes widened in horror.

She got it.

"What?" snapped Jack looking upset. She glared at him for yelling and rubbed Xander's back as his sobs started tapering off.

Willow stared up at him with wide, scared eyes; he bent down and scooped her up into his arms.

"Whoa, how did that happen?" asked Daniel anxiously, beside them.

As Xander's sob quieted down to hiccups she looked at Teal'c and gestured for him to come over to them; she put hand under Xander's chin gently and said, "Okay, now, Xander; I'm just going to leave you with Teal'c for a moment."

He tightened his hold on her and cried something unintelligible; she hugged him, "I know, I know; sweetie I'll just be a second okay?"

A few moments later the boy nodded and pulled away from her a little; she rose from the bed a little and gave the boy to Teal'c, "Teal'c will look after you, just like he did when he first found you, okay?"

Xander nodded as he buried his face into the Jaffa's shoulder; Teal'c nodded, "I will not let you down, Xander. I will endeavour to keep you from any harm."

Thank god for Teal'c.

Sam spoke up, "Actually, I need to ask Teal'c something, so-

Jack nodded, "Stay here then, look after Xander while I'm out."

"Yes sir."

Janet waved the rest of SG1 out of the infirmary and followed them as they made their way out.

"'kay, doc," started Jack impatiently. "What the hell is going on?" He hitched Willow up into a more secure position and glared at the doctor.

Janet sighed, "Well, sir, I think I need to ask Willow something first."

Really? "Go on, then."

Willow looked at Janet curiously as a red pigtail flopped from its position behind her shoulder to the front; she threw it back again.

Janet smiled at the child, "Okay now, you're not in any trouble- I just want to ask you some questions; just answer them truthfully, okay?"

The kid nodded, Jack thought she still looked kinda pale.

"Do you know how Xander…um…lost his eye?"

Smooth, doc. Real smooth.

"No, I thought the patch thing was just a toy," said Willow, eyes downcast. "Is he gonna be okay? No, he can't be okay, he just lost his eye…who can be okay about that?"

Janet smiled at her weakly as she finished her babble, "Sweetie, who would want to hurt Xander? Anyone who might have done this to him?"

Daniel glared at the wall to his left.

Willow sucked in a breath and averted her eyes uncomfortably; she looked down and started fiddling with her one of her pigtails, "N-no…"

Jack ducked his head down near to hers, "Willow, if you know something, you'll tell us right?" Come on, just tell us…don't stay silent. He hated it when abused people stayed silent, it never helped anyone except the perpetrator.

The redhead paused and then shrugged, "I guess."

They were getting somewhere…

"Xander's your friend," said Janet. "You wanna help him, don't you?"

Willow looked up, "Of course; he's…" she smiled slightly. "He's my best friend."

Jack sighed, one of the reasons for the close friendship could be being able to relate to one another- after all they were both obviously maltreated. If not physically, then emotionally.

The kid seemed very smart- he might have a mini-Carter on his hands- but clingy; as if she didn't get a lot of pick-ups and hugs from grown-ups. Whatever it was that was the matter with them, though. He'd find out.

"Who would want to hurt him?" asked Janet quietly.

"I-" she sighed and looked down. "He made me promise I wouldn't tell…I don't break my promises, not like-

Not like? Who? He'd file that away for a little later; right now he had to find out who would hurt them.

"He's your best friend," he said pointedly. "You want to help him, don't you?" Blackmail, pure and simple…and totally something only a jerk would do to a little kid.

Willow nodded, "Yes, I don't want his dad t-" she looked away remorsefully.

Jack growled, so Xander's dad was the one who this. Son of a-

"I don't know if Xander's dad did that," she continued in tone that no child should ever possess. "But I know he's capable of it."

Were Willow's parents capable of hurting a kid as well?

Janet looked upset, "Have you ever seen his dad hurt him?"

The redhead looked depressed, "Yes, he does it all the time. But Xander keeps telling me not to tell anyone."

Then she looked closed to tears, "He's gonna hate me now, have I got him into trouble?"

Jack hugged her, "No, he's not in any trouble. You did good; now we can help him." Okay, thinking a little far ahead aren't we, O'Neill?

The redhead sighed quietly, he almost didn't hear it, "That's good."

Janet glanced at him in confusion and then looked at the girl in puzzlement, "You don't sound like you think it is."

The redhead's green eyes snapped to Janet's own brown ones, "No! I think it is; his parents are bad people…I-I'm glad he's going to be taken away from them."

Well, she was telling the truth; she seemed to be relieved and happy for Xander. But there was something else in her voice and in her expression that made him ask, "Yeah, I believe that, kiddo. But you don't seem _completely_ happy with this."

Jack looked down at her; she was grasping his collar a little tighter than she had been a moment ago.

Willow frowned and suddenly looked angry, "I am! He has mean parents and he should have nice parents like everyone else-"

Ahh, "Like you, ya mean?" he said calmly, he knew he'd hit the nail on the head when he saw all the anger drain out of the kid; now she just looked miserable and guilty.

She shook her head, "My parents are fine; they're nothing like Xander's."

So, did they hit her too or not? "Do they ever hurt you?"

Willow paused and considered this, but shrugged in response; "It doesn't matter."

Janet turned her wrist around to look at her palm, the same scars were still there, "And these?"

Jack's eyes narrowed, where the hell did she get _those_ from? Who would- her parents, maybe?

She looked at the lacerations blankly, "I don't know how they got there." Suddenly she looked doubtful; then she looked away from them. "Can you get Xander better parents?"

Jack and Janet glanced at each other; Jack nodded, "We can try."

Willow looked blankly at the wall in front of them, "That's good." Then she looked at the doctor. "My parents never hurt me like that. They're a lot better than Xander's."

Jack thought for a minute, then he said, "A few minutes ago you started to say something about your parents…something about promises?"

She ducked her head slightly, "It doesn't matter," she repeated. "It never matters."

If not physical abuse, in Willow's case, then, neglect? Emotional abuse? God, he hated bad parents. Could be why she has the bruises at least; if she was neglected all sorts of accidents could happen to her.

That made him feel slightly sick, "Do your parents leave you alone a lot?"

Willow looked conflicted, "They have to, they…they have important j-jobs that they have to do- they don't mean to. They almost took me to the zoo once…um…then they forgot…"

Workaholic, neglectful, uncaring parents; the reason why she was so attached to them was because they were the first adults that looked as if they cared about her and her friend.

SOBs, a lot of parents never deserved to have children.

"Well, that's not right," muttered Daniel.

Jack blinked, He'd almost forgotten that Daniel was even with them. What was with the quietness? A first for old Danny-boy; usually he never stopped talking, "Okay, look. We don't even know where you and your friend came from; how you got here. Until we figure this out you're staying with us for a while."

Willow smiled, "That's good; I like it here." She snuggled up into his chest; then she frowned again. "Can…can Xander get his eye back?"

Jack, Daniel and Janet looked at each other. Jack smiled, "We'll see, okay kiddo?"

She nodded and smiled as Jack patted her on the back.

"As soon as we know everything that's going on we'll see if we can find you and Xander a nicer home."

"Yay!"

After Willow had been sent back into the infirmary Daniel, Jack and Janet remained outside to discuss the children further.

Jack growled, "If those kids _are_ from around here there is _no_ way I'm letting their parents get them back!"

The archaeologist of the group took his glasses off his nose and started fiddling with them, "Jack, if they _are_ from this planet and their parents do want them back we're going to have to find a way to help them get away from those people."

The colonel ran a hand through his greying hair, "Oh, don't worry Daniel; I intend to help them."

Daniel stared at him warning, "Legally, Jack! We'll have to use the legal system. Can't just grab 'em and run off."

"Well, actually," started Janet conversationally. "If they're from another world then we won't have to."

"They said they were from Earth," remarked Jack gruffly. "So, unless there are _two_ planets called 'Earth', which I doubt, they could be from another…er…reality."

Good thing Carter wasn't around to hear that, she'd be techno-babbling so fast-

"Well, it's a possibility, I guess," conceded Janet hesitantly. "But the Quantum Mirror-

"Is under guard," finished Jack impatiently. "Yeah, I know. But what other explanation is there, doc?"

Janet considered this for a few moments and then sighed in defeat, "I have no idea, Colonel."

Jack rubbed his face tiredly with both his hands, "We're gonna have to come up with an explanation soon."

"Why can't it wait?" she queried.

"Because Hammond felt obligated enough that he had to tell his superiors about the kids," replied Jack as he jammed his hands into his pockets.

"What!" exclaimed Daniel in outrage.

Janet closed her eyes in dread, "I suppose the NID will find out about them."

"You can bet your bottom- uh…"

Janet glared at him distractedly, "You know what Kinsey's like, if the general had kept this a secret that old coot would have had something to say about it."

No kidding, "Yeah," then his eyes steeled. "Ya know what? He's not going to touch either of them; but I'd like to see him try."

Janet looked surprised.

Daniel narrowed his eyes on his.

"It would give me an excuse to shoot him," explained Jack shrugging. His lazy expression and posture disguised the tension and anxiety that had started building inside him after being faced with the possibility of Kinsey or the NID getting their grimy mitts on the children.

"Ah," responded Janet.

Jack didn't say anything for a few moments, then a question came to him, "Do you really think Xander's dad took the kid's eye out?"

She shook her head sympathetically, "I don't know; I'll run a few tests and look at the eye area. I'm a little hesitant about it to tell you the truth."

Jack raised his eyebrows, "Yeah?"

She nodded, "I don't know how Xander would react to me taking a look at it; He doesn't remember what happened to him. But that could be a defence mechanism; if a kid got their eye gouged out I'd think they'd be pretty traumatized. Let's not forget that his own father could have been the one to do it."

How could a father hurt his own kid?

"If those kids _are_ from this planet we're not going to let their parents take them back, are we?" asked Daniel anxiously.

"No, Daniel," replied Jack slowly. "Of course not."

Janet continued, "And then there's the abuse alongside that; Xander could very well have just repressed the memory."

Furious, Jack glared at the ground, "If I ever meet Xander's parents…" Hell, if he'd ever meet either of the kids' parents; he'd kill them. Neglect or willful injury…it was all child-abuse in his book.

Janet nodded agreeing, "I just hope that the Pentagon or anyone else doesn't have them taken away before we manage to help them."

Daniel nodded.

"Yeah, you and me both," remarked Jack distractedly as he continued glaring.

Janet smiled humourlessly, "I'm not ruling out the possibility that the same abuse has happened to Willow, though."

Jack scoffed, "We shouldn't, child-neglect is a form of abuse as well. And, well, the girl's not a happy kid that for sure; she's way too…I dunno, grown-up for my liking."

There was such a thing called 'growing-up too quickly.'

Daniel folded his arms around himself, "I know what you mean."

Both the colonel and the doc looked at him surprised, "You do?" they asked simultaneously.

He nodded and scraped his thumbnail across his bottom lip, "Yeah, back when I was a kid, in foster care, I knew this boy. He was taken away from his dad because the father was a sociopath control-freak- in the extreme kinda way. Any way, the kid was…well, the other kids thought he was odd…he was a perfectionist; everything about him and around him had to be perfect. And when it wasn't-"

Daniel looked down sadly, "His dad was a asshole who tried and succeeded in making the kid feel as lowly and pathetic as possible; he wasn't even a kid anymore…his dad had sucked the child right out of him."

"Willow's parents seemed to have done more or less the same to her," concluded Janet, then as an afterthought. "'More' if you include cuts all over her."

Daniel and Jack's heads snapped into the doctor's direction, "What cuts?" they asked at the same time; they glanced at each other quickly and then looked away.

Janet sighed and looked like the was bracing herself for something, he could tell that this was going to be bad, "Willow has abrasions all over her body; and significant bruising as well."  
There was only silence as Jack ground his teeth together, "Son of a bitch."

Daniel shook his head, "Those poor kids."

Jack took a deep breath, "We're not letting their so-called 'parents' anywhere near those kids."

"They'll try, even if they aren't on this planet," said Janet.

"If I see them, they'll be dead before they hit the damn ground," he said flatly.

Daniel smirked darkly, "And if not, they'll have Teal'c to get through."

That made Jack smirk; "Like to see 'em try."

Then he frowned, "What happened to that kid, Daniel?"

"Huh?" Daniel looked confused.

"The kid in foster care."

Daniel sighed, "Last I heard he was admitted to a mental institution after a complete meltdown."

Damn, maybe he didn't want to know that.

"Jeez," he said out loud.

"Yeah, I guess the guise of trying to be the best tore him apart. The police found drugs in his apartment, apparently. The drugs, the addiction, must have made him feel the way he wanted to feel. Completely in control in of life, completely perfect."

Kinda scary when you thought about it, if 'Child Protective' services were ever notified they wouldn't have a leg to stand on; demanding your child to be perfect wasn't illegal- it was wrong and it had long-lasting effects on the child in question, but it wouldn't get the kid taken away from them.

You could set up your kid to be on the wrong side of the law without even trying, and the parents would get away with it.

"Ya know what?" asked Jack.

"What?"

"That's _not_ going to be Willow when she grows up," he shook his head. "We'll take her in; she won't have to be perfect all the time- she'll be allowed to make mistakes and screw up and we'll just accept it. We're not going to crush her into an early grave; she won't kill herself trying to make sure that everyone she cares about takes notice of her ability to be 'useful'."

And there it was, they'd already decided that they were going to keep Willow and Xander; at least for a little while anyway; Jack shook his head. One thing was for sure, they'd be better parents to the kids than their biological parents would ever be.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Over an hour later both the children had been put through MRI, CAT scans and other assortments of medical examinations; the one that was the most trouble was the blood tests.

Not that the CAT scans were easy; the kids had been freaked about having to be put through a tube.

Willow really didn't like it and the only reason Janet had been able to complete the scan was because she'd put her in feet-first instead of head-first and Xander had held onto her ankle while she was in there.

The little boy had been okay going in the tube; it didn't seem to upset him at all, which, for Janet, was a relief. It didn't last though.

Willow and Xander looked rather pale as they gazed at the needle in the doctor's hands, they looked at each other anxiously and moved back a little; the girl gripped Jack's arm tightly and pressed her face into it.

Jack looked at the redhead and then up at her, "Do they _absolutely_ have to be poked with the needles?"

Willow looked up at Jack and then at Janet hopefully, Xander mimicked the action without realizing it.

Janet sighed, she knew that getting blood tests from children wasn't going to be easy; it certainly wasn't going to be pleasant, "Okay, now, this'll only sting a little-

"Do we have to?" asked Willow in a small voice, she jumped off the bed and backed away. "We don't want injections."

"We don't!" exclaimed Xander, he grabbed the pillow and hid behind it. "We don't!" The eye-patch was now back where it was before; which Xander was very happy with.

Sam ruffled his dark hair lightly and smiled, "You'll be fine, we'll be with you the whole time."

Xander blushed slightly and smiled up at her; Janet smirked inwardly, she knew that that heartbreaking smile was doing exactly as it was supposed to be doing.

Janet smiled, maybe they'd cooperate now, "It'll be over and done with in a few seconds," she tried.

"Can't it be over an' done with, now?" asked Xander hopefully, looking away from the blonde. "Like, right now."

"You have to have the injection, sweetie," she replied carefully. She moved over to the boy. "It'll be over in a second."

Teal'c moved Willow back towards the bed, "The pain will be minimal; you should not have to suffer for long. I would not permit it."

Xander gave him a blank look and hugged Sam's side as he looked nervously at the doctor.

Willow allowed the Jaffa to lift her back onto the bed without further incident, stared at the needle with a foreboding look.

Xander mumbled something and looked at her doubtfully, Sam smiled suddenly, "Hey, tell you what, if you have this injection I'll buy you and Willow ice-creams."

Did they even know what ice-creams were? They seemed Earth-bound, playing 'doctors' and the girl knowing about stethoscopes…

Xander remained silent and nervous for a few moments, "O…okay," he said tentatively. He lowered the pillow slowly…

And then the sounds of breaking glass filled the room.

Xander flinched in shock and fear as the room filled with the noise of breaking glass; he clutched the pillow tightly and looked around; he knew that it was his friend, she'd done that last time.

He let go of Sam and crawled to the other side of the bed; looked down and he saw that his friend was sitting there with her head down. He jumped down next to her, "Willow, stop it; you're breakin' everything…"

The door crashed open and two soldiers pointing guns scanned the area; Willow lifted her head up and stared in amazement; the guns flew out of the soldiers' grasps. They pulled out side-arms and trained them on the redhead.

"Woah!" yelled Jack, he looked between Willow and the gun-toting men. "Hold your fire," he barked at the soldiers.

The Colonel looked at Daniel, "Go get the General." The archaeologist hesitated before running out of the room.

Jack stepped curiously and cautiously towards the redhead, "Okay, black-eyed girl, whatcha doing?"

Xander gulped, her eyes were black. Weird, when he blinked the black eyes were gone so he wondered if he'd just imagined it; still, he didn't think so.

He frowned, 'Black-eyed girl'? He knew that from somewhere…but where? He frowned deeper as he felt compelled to search through his mind. Black-eyed girl…

Where is it! He'd lost something, he couldn't find it…it was there, but where?

_Xander was on a big hill, he didn't know where but he felt tired and scared; there was a huge, ugly statue in front of him. He ran to it and as he got closer he saw a woman dressed in black shooting something at._

_He stepped in the way of the black power and it ceased, "Hey, black-eyed girl. Whatcha doing?"_

_Black-eyed girl? Her eyes returned to their normal colour, "Get out of here!" she said._

_He put his hand in his pockets and shrugged, then he pointed his thumb at himself, "You're not the only one with powers you know. You may be a hopped-up uberwitch, but this carpenter can drywall you into the next century."_

_"I'm not joking, Xander, get out of my way, now!"_

Xander shook his head, it sounded like Willow…a little bit anyway; that lady had black eyes, just like Willow. Maybe it _was_ Willow! No, she was little like he was, how did she know him?

And he felt kinda big, he felt stronger when he ran up that hill, it would have taken longer with him 'cause he was much shorter.

He came out of his daydream when the door opened and the General entered the room, "What on earth's going on?"

Jack looked away from Willow and to his CO, "Uh, general, it seems we have a…" he gestured helplessly. "…not-so-normal kid here."

Willow sniffled, and shrugged, "It wasn't me."

"That's incredible," Xander heard Sam say excitedly. "How…she _must_ be telekinetic, then."

"Major," warned Jack pointedly. She stared at the colonel through bright, wide eyes.

General Hammond looked worried, "Are you saying that she's not…" he looked at the redhead. "What happened?"

Sam jumped at the chance to explain, "Well, it seems that Willow has some telekinetic abilities-

"Your eyes were black," remarked Xander bluntly as Sam continued on. "How did you turn them black?" Could _he_ do that? Cool.

Willow glared, "I didn't do it, and my eyes aren't black. They're green."

"They weren't a minute ago," he argued. Didn't she know that her eyes went black? Or that she'd broke everything…in the office and where they were now?

"Well, they were black," said Jack to the general.

"I concur," Teal'c put in.

The general looked confused, "Black? How-

"Black," answered Jack innocently. "You know, like Thor's."

"They were too, green," Willow continued the argument.

"Were not," he retorted stubbornly.

"Were too!" she yelled angrily. The lights in the room flickered spasmodically as she said this.

SG1, Hammond and Janet looked around as the lights flickered.

Hammond looked at Jack and said, "SG1, let's talk outside the room."

Xander's face went red, "You don't hafta yell!" he got to his feet abruptly and stomped off to the other side of the bed and sat down on the floor.

"Whoa," muttered Jack. "Cranky kids." Then he walked out of the room along with the general.

Xander wasn't cranky! No, Willow was the one who was being a big meanie; he wasn't going to talk to her anymore.

He scowled and crossed his arms over his chest petulantly and pouted for all he was worth; he looked up as his new blonde friend sat down next to him; he hugged her arm like a teddy-bear.

"Whoa, pretty big fight," she said lightly. "Do you two usually fight?"

Xander shrugged, "Sometimes, she's annoying sometimes." Then he shrugged again stared ahead. "Didn't you go out with everyone else?"

"The General wanted Janet and I to look after you two," Sam smiled and ruffled his hair, "You and Willow are still best friends, even though you fight."

Xander fought back a smile, "Yeah, she's the only that cares about me. No one else does." He looked away from her as he struggled to hold back the tears that were threatening to drown his eyes…

No, Xander sobbed. Eye, he only had one eye.

Sam pulled him onto her lap and hugged him; he struggled a little but gave up after a moment as his own sobs filled his ears.

He shouldn't be crying, if his dad were here he'd kill him, "Dad says crying's for babies and girls," he mumbled into Sam's shoulder. He struggled to rein in his emotions as he pressed his face into the warm fabric and warm, soft blonde hair.

Sam's hair smelled nice.

Another vision assaulted his mind,

_Pain, lots of pain. He looked up and saw the black-eyed lady staring at him, he wanted to help her. She was so lost in her own pain-_

_"I…love you," he said as pain washed over him. He had to tell her that, they couldn't go and die without him telling her that, she had to know._

_"Shut up!" the woman cried. She threw something at him and more pain flared inside him and over him. It didn't hurt as much as the last blast, he didn't fall down._

_"I love you, Willow," he said quietly. He knew she'd heard him._

_"Stop," she whimpered, she was going to attack him again…but he didn't care. He reached out to hug her and was hit with her fists; it hurt but he didn't mind._

_He just wanted her back._

_She fell down, he caught her and hugged her as she started crying. Her smelled her hair and found it odd that with all they'd been through over the last few days it still, to him, smelled nice._

Xander blinked out of his thoughts and felt confused. He didn't understand anything at that moment.

* * *

Willow regretted yelling at her best friend a second after she did it; she looked down as he jumped off the bed and stomped away from her, she hated fighting with him.

It made her feel sick and her stomach burn.

Voices echoed in her mind suddenly,

_"I…love you."_

_She was hurting Xander, she wasn't supposed to be doing that. It was wrong._

_"Shut up!"_

The voices faded.

"Are you okay?"

Willow looked up and saw the doctor looking sitting next to her on the bed; she shrugged, "I'm fine."

The doctor was nice even though she tried to give them an injection; maybe she had to.

"You looked dizzy for a moment there, kiddo," Janet continued warmly.

Willow looked at her and smiled, "I'm okay, really."

When the doctor nodded Willow turned her attention back to her best friend, she peered down at him from above as he hugged Sam's arm; she opened her mouth to say something when Sam beat her to it.

"Whoa, pretty big fight."

It was.

"Do you two usually fight?"

Not all the time, just sometimes; but they always made-up really fast afterwards. They'd make-up again, but Xander had been pretty angry. Was he going to hate her now?

A sickening feeling scraped its way down her chest all the way down to her stomach, she grabbed one of her pigtails and started playing with it again as she shrunk into herself.

A vague memory flashed briefly,

_She was going back to her friends, she'd hurt them so much when Tara…_

_Were they going to hate her? They probably would, she deserved it…but Gi…he said, she wouldn't be wanted…needed, she would be needed._

_But she didn't want to see them, she wasn't ready._

"Sometimes, she's annoying sometimes." He replied to the blonde's question, also bring Willow out of her thoughts.

The redhead smiled up at Janet faintly as she realized that she's zoned out again; she had the doc's hand on her shoulder without even realizing it.

She blinked and cocked her head to the side, vision fading in her mind like a dream. She knew that- she liked annoying him. She didn't know why though.

"But you're still best friends, even though you fight," said the lady while Willow listened intently.

"Yeah, she's the only that cares about me. No one else does."

The redhead hugged her knees to her chest and sighed as his saddened declaration echoed through her mind.

"I know what you mean," mumbled Willow to herself. For the last three years it had just been her and Xander, just them against the world.

She missed the saddened look the doctor sent her way, she'd obviously heard the gist of the mumble.

Her eyes widened as she heard a sob, she stared at Xander as cried into Sam's shoulder; her ears perked up as she heard him mumble something; she wasn't sure what it was but she heard the word 'dad' in the sentence and _that_ was never a good thing.

Willow reached down and carefully ran her fingertips through her friend's hair, she loved his hair. It was dark and soft, it tickled her nose whenever she hugged him; she didn't know why Xander hated it though.

She suspected it had something to do with his parents.

Her eyes were fixed on Xander's left shoulder, though she was deep in thought, she notice that her friend had stopped crying and was now looking at her through a reddened, pain-stricken, wet eye.

It took a few moments to realize that both he, Janet and Sam were looking at her, her fingers stopped suddenly as she came out of her thoughts and noticed them; she looked at Xander for a few silent and uncomfortable moments; she went slightly red at the attention she was getting.

She hated having all the attention on her. Another flash filled her mind,

_She was paralysed with horror as she stared out at the crowds of people staring at her and the man, who hadn't stopped singing yet; which she was grateful for._

_She thought that he expected __**her**__ to sing with him! Boy, wasn't __**he**__ going to be disappointed! Then he turned towards her as he stopped singing._

_Uh oh. Darn it! There were so many people there, watching her. Her face burned as they just stared at her expectantly._

_Sing? __**She**__ was supposed to sing! Might as well get it over with, Rosenberg._

_She opened her mouth and-_

_Squeaked!_

Willow snapped back to reality; what a nightmare! She shuddered; she hoped that _never_ happened to her!

All those people…

Willow looked down and remembered that they were still staring at her, she sighed; oh well, three people are better than all those guys in my dream-thing.

She looked at Xander as the few hours events caught up with her.

He looked so sad; his parents made him sad and now she'd made him feel bad as well, "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Xan."

She really was.

* * *

As Xander sobbed into Sam's shoulder he noticed a familiar touch on his head; for a moment he'd thought that it was Sam, but he could see both her arms, one which he was holding on to.

He knew it was Willow, he sniffled and wondered what to do; his anger at the girl had already faded and was replaced by hurt. She always messed his hair up, it always made him feel better when he was upset and she knew that; he looked up and saw her staring down at him.

Xander could tell that she was thinking hard, she always thought hard.

A minute or two later Willow blinked and then looked him in the eye, she said, "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Xan."

He just looked at her; she could never lie, she could never lie to _him_ even more because they were best friends, "Me too." He'd yelled at her too; he didn't like yelling….he didn't like being yelled _at_ or yelling at anyone else.

Especially not to Willow.

He loosened his death-grip around Sam's arm as his friend dropped from the bed and sat next to him before throwing her arms around his neck; he smiled happily as the tears abated.

He liked it when Willow messed his hair, he liked it even more when he got Willow-hugs, he hugged her back, "'cause those are the best hugs ever."

He felt her smile into his neck and smiled himself.

They were the best.

* * *

Jack fumed inwardly, yeah okay so the kid wasn't normal…big deal. She was still just a kid, albeit a powerful one.

Maybe she was related to Thor; they both had the black-eyed thing going for them. What's the bet that Willow was an Asgard in disguise?

He shook those thoughts away from his mind for the time being; there were more important things to think about, like the fact that the general was now going to have to tell the 'higher-ups' of this new little revelation.

"General," protested Jack insistently. "Let's think about this for a-

General Hammond shook his bald head, "Jack, as much as I'd love to keep this a secret from my COs I can't; I'm under strict orders to procure any and all information about these children and then present it to them-

"General!"

"Colonel, I'm sorry," snapped Hammond. "But my hands are tied on this one; half the base already knows of the two kids, my COs would inevitably find out anyway and I can't keep the power-mongers away from them if I get myself court-martialed."

Jack shook his head and was about to say something when Daniel interrupted him.

"General, even if you didn't get court-martialed how could you help them anyway?" asked Daniel, he raised his eyebrows meaningfully.

Jack nodded, "Exactly."

"I agree, general Hammond," intoned Teal'c from beside Daniel.

General Hammond looked between the three men and sighed, "If I wasn't in command of this base another General would be elected to the position and I doubt that he'd think of these children as…well, just that. Children."

Damn it! The General was right, if someone else took command at this time god only knows how the kids would be treated then; granted the new General might not be a complete ass but…

The new guy just wouldn't be Hammond.

"Okay, good point," stated Daniel unknowingly echoing Jack's own thought. "But how are we going to be able to keep the NID, Kinsey…the Joint Chiefs and rest of them away from Willow and Xander?"

Jack smirked, well, he _could_ always just shoot Kinsey and give the finger to the other guys…somehow he didn't think that that would go over well with them.

Hammond thought for a moment, looking wary, "We're…just going to have to come to some sort of arrangement."

Jack nodded.

"But, first I want to know," started Hammond, looking at Jack in particular. "_Are_ these children a threat to the base?"

Only if you piss Little-Red off, "Well, sir, I think that the threat could be kept under wraps if we play it down; I doubt the Little-Redhead in there has any idea of what she can do. Her denial seemed quite genuine."

Hammond nodded, "So we keep her calm, anything else?"

Yeah, "I think at the moment, sir, we only have to worry about a few broken lights and maybe a few glass tumblers and mirrors getting smashed. Other than that we're okay."

Daniel nodded, "Willow's innocent in this, she doesn't mean to hurt us…I think she would have wiped us all out a hundred times over by now if she wanted to."

Teal'c bowed his head slightly in silent agreement.

The General considered this a moment, "Well, if you're sure. Just keep an eye on her, any other strange events happened around those two and you report straight back to me, am I clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

* * *

r&r please :)


	7. Chapters 7 and 8

Parts 7 and 8

Damn, was there anything harder than taking blood from a little kid?

Janet smoothed the Band-Aid over Xander's punctured vein gently before brushing back his dark hair, "See, over in a second. You were really brave too."

The boy's smile trembled as he held back tears; he shrugged slightly, "N-no, I'm really not."

"'course you are, kiddo," remarked Jack with a boyish smile.

The doctor's smile slipped from her face slightly, but she just smiled again and said, "Well, you're braver than most six-year-olds."

Xander shuffled self-consciously, "Maybe."

Sam frowned slightly and glanced at her sadly.

Janet sighed, she didn't like how easily the boy had repressed his feelings like that; Xander if looked like he was going to cry then he should, why would a six-year-old need to stop himself?

She suspected it had something to do with his parents, in fact she was firmly convinced it did; she had, after all, heard him say 'Dad says crying's for babies and girls' which was absolute crap.

It seemed to her that the only source of affection and friendship was coming from Willow, which explained the way he depended on her- the sign of dependence wasn't obvious, you had to look closer to see it. You could see it in the way he looked at the redhead, the mix of fear and love; maybe he was scared that she might stop liking him.

Janet didn't think that that would ever be the case, it seemed that Willow needed him as much as he needed her; besides, aside from the death-grip they had on each other, they obviously cared for one another on a level that wasn't simply based on need.

They understood each other completely, and were brought together by one thing that they had in common with each other, abusive parents and the complete lack of love directed at them.

The girl in question was gripped the colonel's hand tightly with her own while the other one was tapping against her lips distractedly; she had had her blood sample taken first and had reacted like any other six year old would have, except that unlike most children she seemed to have an aversion for crying in front of other people.

Odd.

Janet smiled brightly as Teal'c walked into the room holding something in his fist; she ruffled Xander's hair and then walked over to him; the Jaffa opened his fist showing her that he had, indeed, did exactly as she'd asked.

"I have procured the sticky confectionery you wished me to bring to the children, Dr. Frasier," intoned Teal'c, though he had a glint of eagerness in his dark eyes.

"Sticky what?" asked Xander blankly.

Willow grinned, "Candy, Xander! He means CANDY!"

Her earlier distress at having the injection suddenly vanished as a huge grin stretched her mouth into the sweetest one Janet had ever seen.

"W-we get candy?!" exclaimed Xander in shock. He looked at his best friend as she nodded energetically at him. "Allright!"

Janet shared a grin with Sam at the ecstatic expression on the kids' faces as Willow and Xander ran to the candy-totting Jaffa and eyed it hungrily.

"I believe these are called 'Chupa Chups'," Teal'c said with a slight smile on his normally-emotionless face. "Though I do not know what the name symbolizes."

Janet snorted mirthfully, Only Teal'c…

Jack, ever the smart-ass, said, "Well, it means..." he sighed thoughtfully, then shook his head. "Got nothing."

Xander blinked, "'Chupa Chups' means…uh, yummy?."

Willow looked at him with a mix of affection and exasperation as she listened to his explanation on the meaning of 'Chupa Chups'.

Teal'c cocked his head slightly, looking as serious as ever, "I see."

Willow looked at the two candies, "I want the red one." The other one was purple which was Xander's favorite; yellow was hers, but the red was okay.

"Can I have the purple one?" asked Xander hesitantly.

Janet felt a flicker of sadness in her, he didn't seem to be comfortable with asking for candy whilst most kids in his position would be demanding the sweets.

"You may, indeed," replied Teal'c handing the boy the sweet. "And you can have many more purple 'Chupa Chups' if you so wish."

Huh? Janet blinked in confusion before glancing at Sam; she looked equally perplexed as the Jaffa went to the door.

She watched him silently with everyone else as Teal'c instructed the airman to hand him something; her confusion grew as he accepted a plastic bag that was three-quarters of the way full of…whatever it was that was in there.

He handed the bag to Willow who took it curiously, Janet and the other watched curiously as the redhead opened the bag- her head touching Xander's as he leaned in to get a closer look- and her mouth dropped open in shock.

"Oh Lord-y!" exclaimed Willow in awe, she looked up at the Jaffa with the same expression. "Th-thank you."

Xander just gaped at the contents of the bag, "This is my lucky day…"

Jack ambled over to them.

Okay, now she curious, "Teal'c what did you get them, the entire gift-shop at Disneyland?" With the expressions on the children's faces she almost believed that.

Jack spluttered in amazement, "Teal'c," he seemed speechless for a second- a feat for anyone to accomplish. "Way to go," he clapped the Jaffa on the shoulder.

Willow put her hand into the bag and withdrew a handful of candy, "Wow…" her eyes were wider than dinner plates.

Teal'c smiled proudly, "I believe the Taur'i refer to the confectionery as 'Dum Dum Pops', 'Taffy', 'Twinkies', 'Ding Dongs', 'Hershey's', 'Candy Canes' and 'Tootsie Roll Pops'. Is this sufficient enough?"

"Oh my god," chuckled Sam.

Willow looked at the Jaffa in wonderment before spluttering out her reply, "Yeah!"

The bag was full of different coloured sweets and wrappers; a child's treat.

"Hershey's'?" asked Xander hopefully. "My chocolate-goodness."

Janet looked at the Jaffa amused, "Teal'c, I meant a candy each…I didn't mean the entire candy _store_."

Teal'c bowed his head, "I apologize, Dr Frasier. I misunderstood." But there was a glint of mischief in his eyes as he said this.

Jack's smirk was cheeky, "Of _course _you did, T."

Willow and Xander both had their hands in the bag and were ripping into the wrapping before they'd even finished the first candy bar; their happy faces were quickly covered in chocolate and sticky mess.

Janet shook her head warily and muttered, "Well, they've ruined their lunch." Not to mention what effect the sugar would have on the children. She groaned, "God, they're gonna be bouncing off the walls."

She looked at Jack and snorted, grinning, "Colonel, would _you _like some candy?"

Jack considered this for two moments, "Ya know, maybe I would…" he looked down and saw Xander holding up a Hershey chocolate bar with wide eye. "Thank you, Xander."

The colonel ripped open the wrapper and took a huge bite, then he looked at her and Sam, "Wha'?"

Sam stifled a laugh and hid a grin, "N-nothing, sir."

Jack huffed.

***VIP Room***

"I _knew _we shouldn't have let them eat all that candy!" griped Jack, he ducked another flurry of sparks from the fried computer.

Damn candy! Damn…delicious candy!

"Well, to be honest, sir-" lectured an exhausted Sam as she clung to a squirming Xander. "We didn't let them eat _all _the candy."

Oh, for crying out loud!

"Carter! The candy _I _ate doesn't count!" Jack argued before he made another grab at Willow, he scowled as she scooted out of the way.

Why were kids so damn quick? Must be their size; he could clearly remember trying to keep up with Charlie…

And quickly shoving _that _thought back.

Willow hid under the table and started pulling faces at him, "Nya nya! Can't get me now! Your stature's too large for you to fit." Her eyes were huge and far too bright; she was on the big sugar-high.

Did she just call him fat!?

"Just watch me," retorted Jack, he knelt down and…

"Ah, _crap_!" he exclaimed as his knees flared in pain. He immediately straightened up and glared down as the redhead giggled.

"Told you!"

"Not funny!"

"Ah, you said a bad word. You said '_crap_!'" yelled Willow, still grinning.

Jack's eyes widened, "Wha'… no! Young lady, do not _ever _say that again!" He rubbed his knee, grimacing.

"Why?" asked Willow in the sort of mocking voice that let you know that she was going to be asking that question a _lot_.

"Because I said so," reprimanded the colonel. He frowned, she'd better not ask-

"Why?"

-yep, she did.

"Colonel!" yelled Sam.

Jack turned around to see that Xander had broke free of Sam's grip and was now running out of the room; the SF outside the room attempted to catch the child but was also evaded.

The kids were too damn quick and slippery; they just wriggled out of the way; squirmed and scampered out of their reach. Jack watched as the SF chased Xander out of his sight, "Daniel! Get him!"

Daniel, who had been in the briefing room with another team for the duration of the candy-intake, dived out of the room and sped down the hall; his glasses had fallen to the floor in his attempt to help restrain the hyped-up children.

Teal'c grabbed the phone on the wall, "We require assistance with the handling of the children."

Goa'ulds! Re'tu! Kinsey! They survived those things and, what…two little kids got them beat?!

After a moment Teal'c hung up; he wasn't exhausted like the rest of SG1 were, but he also had trouble restraining the two children. For the first time, Jack could remember, Teal'c's size was a disadvantage; especially as the Jaffa didn't want to accidentally hurt the children by using too much strength to hold them.

Teal'c was such a softie sometimes….uhhh, Jack blinked as Teal'c rose higher and higher off the floor and towards the ceiling, "Uh, Teal'c?"

Come to think of it, he felt kinda light…

"O'Neill! I do not like this," intoned the Jaffa as he floated higher, the crown of his head touched the ceiling.

Jack looked down, "Whoa!" he had left the floor too!

"No, I'll bet you don't," muttered Jack as he stared up at his friend as he, himself, rose up higher. He looked down at Willow and saw that she was staring up at them with a huge grin on her face, though she did look a little confused.

Wait, where had the table gone? Jack found it a nano-second later and saw that it too was floating off the floor…as was everything else.

"Holy buckets," he said in a hushed voice.

What had they gotten themselves into?

"Sir!?"

Sam gulped as she looked down, the floor was slowly getting further and further away from her boots as she started levitating along with the others.

"What in the world!" General Hammond had just entered the room and was now staring up at them with dismayed shock on his face. "Colonel?"

Jack opened his mouth, didn't know what to say, and then said, "Uhh…hi, General." He crossed his arms over his chest and moved his legs into a cross-legged position in mid-air.

The General spluttered as he looked at Jack, "Wh…what _are _you doing up there, Colonel?"

Jack looked down at his CO for a second then shrugged lazily, "Oh, ya know. The usual." Had they ever done this before now? He couldn't think of it, if they had.

Teal'c stared at him, "I disagree, O'Neill. This is, in fact, _very _unusual."

Really?

"It's Willow, sir," piped up Sam as her blonde hair grazed the ceiling. "Don't ask me how, but she's doing it."

"I am not," Willow protested, standing up. "How can I? I'm just a normal girl and I'm from Earth, from Sunnydale which is in California…and I am too human! Just 'cause weird things happen near me doesn't mean anything."

No! The fact that they were all, with the exception of Willow and Hammond, floating to the ceiling didn't mean a thing. It must be another alien capable and willing to float us everywhere! Oy.

General Hammond stared up at him, "Colonel, is she a threat? Is she willing and able to let you down?"

Jack shrugged dumbly, "That's something you're going to have to ask her, sir."

Willow blushed, "I'm telling you, it isn't me!" she said this as she glared at the General, then she slowly looked shocked.

Jack looked at the General and gaped, "Holy Cow! General, your…hair!?"

Which was a _very_ strange thing to say because…the General didn't _have _any hair! Well, he didn't a few moments ago; but he sure did now!

Sandy brown tufts of hair were now gracing Hammond's previously-bald head and it continued growing quickly before their very eyes, it almost reached his shoulders before it completely stopped.

"Oh my god," said Sam, stunned.

General Hammond fingered the strands of hair in mute surprise, he looked at Willow speechlessly and then up at Jack, "Colonel?"

Uh, well that's a new look…wait, he should probably say something…

"W-ell, isn't _that _a treat?" blurted out the Colonel, unable to think of anything else to say.

Smooth, Jack. Real smooth.

* * *

PART 8

**A/N: Disclaimer: i don't own the flashes of the two Buffy episodes; or any others that will be copied, they are property of Joss Whedon and...whoever else works for him.**

General Hammond sighed as he looked into the bathroom mirror of his private quarters; one of the perks of being a General was that you got your own 'private' everything. It certainly came in handy today.

The previously-bald man reached for a pair of scissors and used his left hand to work out how much of his hair he should cut off, and also to make sure it wasn't noticeably uneven. Once he was satisfied with the grip he had on the right side of his hair and drew the scissors up to the thick mop of sandy-coloured hair and closed the blades over it.

His hand came away clutching a fistful of the hair, he dropped it into the bin beside the sink and measured out the next strands of hair that would be cut away.

By the time he was finished the slightly curly, sandy hair brushed the tips of his ears and then fell behind then slightly and moved around his skull to taper off at the base; he shook his head as he placed the scissors down. Several years earlier the sight of him having hair would have been no shock to him whatsoever; but after being almost bald for the last five years the hair was going to take some getting used to.

Maybe he'd just get it all cut off…maybe.

Hammond's thoughts turned to the children, he put his head in his hands as he wondered what to tell his superiors. He didn't particularly _want _to tell them, but he didn't have much of a choice…procedure and protocols.

Still, he didn't have to inform her COs yet, not for another few hours anyway; and he wanted to know what the chances were of Willow and Xander being citizens of Earth…_this _Earth.

He had to get those results before any other people were involved.

Sometimes he hated his job.

Daniel watched as Jack rubbed his face tiredly with his hands; he felt a pang of sympathy for his friends, the event of the children's sugar-high drained their energy thoroughly.

He had been in the briefing room when the kids had started acting up and although he'd been forced to chase little Xander around the halls of the SGC, he wasn't nearly as close to tired as his friends were.

And that was why he'd been assigned to the task of taking the kids to the Mess hall for some lunch; he was relieved that the children seemed to have wiped themselves out with all the running around and shouting they had done. He held onto Willow's small hand and almost had to pull her along as she yawned loudly.

As they passed through the halls on the way to the Mess many of the personnel looked curiously at the kids as they passed; Willow had taken to hiding behind Daniel whilst Xander was jumping around, still energetic, and waving randomly at passing soldiers and scientists.

Daniel smiled as Xander ran to yet another SF and said, "Hi! I'm Xander!" then running back to him and Willow before scampering off to another person and introducing himself.

"Cute kids," said Major Ferretti as he passed them.

"Mmhm, they sure are," though there was a trace of sarcasm in his voice as he remembered being led round and round in circles around the complex.

Cute, right.

"What's for lunch?" asked Willow, skipping slightly. "I'm hungry."

Daniel pushed open the door to the Mess hall, the hall was noisy and full of personnel eating, talking, laughing and bickering, "Let's go get something to eat, then."

"Okay!" exclaimed Willow and Xander simultaneously.

The archaeologist shook his head slightly, "Okay." He picked up two trays for the kids, he'd get his own lunch after the kids had sat down, and lined up behind five other people as they waited.

"Don't want pork," said Willow, frowning. "I'm Jewish, I don't eat it." She tugged on her grey, pink-striped tracksuit shirt restlessly and looked up at Daniel.

She was Jewish? "Your Jewish, huh, well I didn't know that; but I'm sure that there're other things to choose from other than pork."

Willow nodded, "Anything that comes from a pig, I don't eat. Or my mommy and daddy wouldn't be happy." She shook her head to emphasize what she'd said.

"We wouldn't want that, would we?" said Daniel, looking slightly pained. Especially not if breaking Jewish tradition would make her parents abuse her; how could anyone hurt their own children?

His parents had never laid a finger on him, nor had any other adults…well, until he got taken into care, anyway.

It didn't matter though, Foster care was behind him now; no reason to go remembering any of that.

"JellO! JellO!" yelled Xander swinging on Daniel's arm.

Willow reached up onto the counter to try to get a bowl of JellO; the tip of her tongue poked out between her lips as she eyed the pudding hungrily. Sparks of electricity jumped from her outstretched fingers.

"Great," muttered Daniel wryly. "Just what I need, more magic tricks."

Xander smirked at the young redhead as he watched the sparks fly, "Magic tricks? Only clowns do that…and they're evil, hate clowns." He ducked his head slightly looking deep in thought.

Willow grinned, "I remember that! W-when it was your birthday and you got a clown, but you got so scared that you threw your birthday cake at it!"

Xander glared at her, Daniel just smiled sheepishly at one of the kitchen crew; he inwardly cursed Jack for making him do this, he just wasn't good with kids.

They made him a little…nervous.

Xander glared at his best friend angrily as she made him remember his sixth birthday party, he hated that clown! It scary and just plain lousy; it couldn't even make a balloon giraffe and _everybody _could make those!

He frowned slightly as something, a memory, surfaced in his mind

_He walked into the halls of a familiar place, he looked around; the place was wrecked and had swastikas spray-painted everywhere, a light that hung from the ceiling was flickering._

_He looked down as something caught his eye, he started to smile, it was a chocolate bar!_

_"All right!" he exclaimed happily. He scooped the candy bar up and tore the wrapper open._

_"Somebody else's loss, my chocolately-goodness!"_

_He took a huge bite, then he looked around some more._

_There was another chocolate bar! Eyes wide with amazement he walked over to it, picked it up and tore it open, "This is my lucky day!"_

_It was a Hershey! Yum! He took a bite and then looked around again._

_Maybe there were more candy bars lying around._

_And there were, a few minutes later his arms were laden with chocolate bars._

_Xander walked further down the hall and then around a corner; he saw that there were sheets of plastic hanging from the ceiling; he pushed a pair away from his face as he continued walking on._

_He took another bite of chocolate, "I love these bars!"_

_Xander's eyes drifted to yet another candy bar lying innocently on the floor, "A chocolate 'Hurricane'!" he stooped and picked that one up too, he tore the wrapped open with his teeth and bit down on the food. "These are the best! I haven't had one of these since my…"_

_He heard giggling…and it wasn't the nice kind._

_"…sixth…"_

_Why wouldn't the giggling stop? It was freaking him out._

_"…birthday…"_

_As he turned around he saw a shadow come up behind another sheet of plastic, then a clown burst through grinning at him._

_Terror shot down his spine as he fell back and screamed, the clown held up a knife menacingly, still giggling._

_Xander almost somersaulted backwards to get away from the clown; he landed in the next hall and started crawling away._

_And he kept running…_

Suddenly, Daniel was there in front of him, holding his shoulder tightly and looking upset, "Xander?"

Xander breathed heavily, still terrified at the memory, "Don't let him kill me, he's gonna kill me!" tears streaked down his pallid cheeks.

"Who?" asked Daniel concerned. "Xander, no one here's gonna hurt you, okay?"

Didn't he get it! It was gonna come after him, with the knife…the cake knife that he tried to stab him with!

"He's gonna kill me!" he wailed, then he felt the man hug him and pick him up. He didn't want to see if the clown was chasing them so he hid his face in Daniel's shoulder and held on tight.

Daniel walked out of the Mess hall leaving the shocked silence of the other personnel behind them, he walked along the hall a bit further and then sat down on the floor and against the wall with Xander still in his arms.

Willow sat down next to him staring at Xander anxiously and playing with her hair; which now fell down her back freely.

He hugged the kid and waited for him to stop crying and hiding, Daniel had no doubt that Xander had been talking about his dad in there. He wondered what was going to happen if they had to give the kids back to their parents.

He wouldn't give them back, neither would the others. And if they had no choice then they'd make sure that the state's Protective services would take them away from their parents.

How bad could the child's life have been to get damn flashbacks like that? Six year old kids shouldn't be having flashbacks in the first place!

Daniel knew how bad they were; he'd gotten plenty of them after witnessing his parents' deaths when he was a kid, being stuck in Foster care with no support hadn't helped.

The archaeologist frowned at the wall and then shook himself out of his bad memories as he realized that Xander was now looking up at him nervously.

"S-sorry," he muttered looking down guiltily.

"No, no," Daniel said suddenly. "You don't have to be sorry." He felt Willow lay her head on his arm and saw that she was looking at Xander with wide eyes.

Daniel turned back to the boy and brushed his dark fringe out of his eye; Xander flinched back, scared, "Not gonna hurt you."

Xander just looked at him with his remaining eye, it was much too old for a young child, full of hurt and tinged with anger, "Why?"

Willow lifted her head from Daniel's arm and grabbed her friend around the waist, hugging him, "Daniel's nice, he won't hurt you."

"No, I won't," said Daniel reassuringly.

Xander just stared at him analytically, as if trying to read him.

For the next few minutes they stayed it that position, no moving, just staring at each other and waiting.

Daniel wasn't sure what they were waiting for.

The silence and unnatural stillness was finally broken when Willow's stomach growled loudly enough for them, and a few other personnel walking passed them, to hear.

The redhead's face reddened, "I-I'm _really _hungry now." She looked up at Daniel sheepishly.

Daniel looked at Xander, "Do you want to get something to eat, now?" Xander blinked and then looked at Willow. "O-okay." He dragged his fist over his nose and sniffled, then he climbed off Daniel's lap and stood up.

The archaeologist got up to his feet and led the children into the Mess hall again, thankfully everyone was back to talking amongst themselves and didn't seem to notice them come back into the room.

They walked back up to the line and waited.

Ten minutes later they were sitting down at one of the tables, the buzz of laughter and arguing filled the room and created a companionable atmosphere which the kids seemed to enjoy.

Xander took a huge bite of hamburger, his earlier upset now seemed to be forgotten; the dark-haired boy chewed happily and started throwing peas at his best friend.

Willow half glared, half smiled at her friend as a pea bounced off her left shoulder and onto the floor; she had a huge bowl of chicken soup and a big pile of sandwiches, "Stop it, Xander. You shouldn't play with food!"

Xander just grinned goofily, loaded a pea onto his spoon and hooked his right index finger onto the bowl of the spoon before pulled it back and letting go; the spoon flicked up and the pea was catapulted at the girl, and then-

It stopped in mid-air, suspended above the table and only three inches away from Willow's forehead, then it dropped to the table's surface. Xander just stared in slight shock at the tiny morsel.

"Whoa," muttered Daniel, his own burger held halfway up to his mouth. "That's…that was…wow."

Willow shifted uncomfortably looking guiltily at the table, "I didn't do it," she muttered unconvincingly.

Just as Xander was about to argue Daniel held up a hand, silencing him, "Willow, why are so afraid of admitting that you…don't…that you have…powers?"

The redhead blanched slightly, "I don't have powers…I'm not a…w-witch, I'm not…"

Daniel frowned in confusion, he smiled nervously, "Willow, I never said that you were a witch-

"Well, I'm not! I'm a good girl-" getting visibly upset she gripped the edge of the table and glared at him, looking sick with fear.

He gulped as he looked at her wide black eyes, "Uh…"

Well, this was _some _lunch event!

Willow gripped the edge of the table tightly as she fought back the bile rising in her throat; she glared hard at the empty plate in front of her and felt ten times worse when the plate melted into a gross puddle on the table.

Fear leapt up inside her, she had to get away; they were going to punish her, but she wasn't bad, she couldn't help it if she was evil. They thought she was, but she knew she wasn't- they wanted to cure her, that's what she said!

_Willow was in her house, sitting next to her mom and feeling very upset, "Mom, I'm not acting out. I'm a witch! I-I can make pencils float. And I can summon the four elements. Okay, two, but four soon."_

Willow was vaguely aware of Daniel standing up before the next flashback took over her consciousness.

_Willow was in her bedroom, her mom was taking her laptop away from her; but she needed it._

_Her mom looked at her angrily, "I see what you're doing. You're challenging me. But I will not have you communicating with your cyber-coven or what have you."_

_Willow sat up, "Coven? What happened to me being delusional and acting out?"_

_The older redhead sighed, "Well, that was before I talked in depth with Ms. Summers and her associates. It seems I've been rather close-minded."_

_"So, you believe me?"_

_Her mom sighed, "I believe you, dear. Now all I can do is let you go with love._

_Cold fear slipped down her spine, "Let me go? What does that mean?"_

No no no! They were gonna- she wasn't bad! Willow felt hands grabbing her arms as she felt herself falling.

_Willow was sitting in her room again, eyeing her teddy-bear which she held in her hands; she heard the door open and leapt up, running to the door._

_"Mom, we really have to talk," she said, then she stopped as she noticed that there were several other adults present._

_"It's time to go. Oh, and get your coat. It's chilly out," said her mom._

_Very confused, she asked, "Go? Go where?"_

_Her mom's eyes lit with fury and hatred, "I said get your coat, witch!"_

Willow opened her eyes and saw that she was staring up at Daniel and Xander; another memory assaulted her addled mind.

_"No! Why are you doing this to me? Mom?" she yelled, petrified._

_"There's no cure but the fire," her mom said coldly._

_"This is crazy, mom!" she pleaded as panic clawed its way into her soul._

_Then all she could remember was fire, scorching fire and the smoke- both suffocating her, the almost unbearable heat, then the betrayal of looking at her own mom as she tried to burn her alive._

_She couldn't breathe! She couldn't take it, it was too hot!_

_She screwed her eyes shut._

_Burning, her feet, her ankles were burning; she was on fire!_

Then everything went black.

Daniel scooped up the girl as every piece of glass in the room shattered; he tried to hold Willow still as she waved her fists in the air, he heard someone calling for Janet.

Then Doctor Fraiser knelt down next to him as he clutched Willow's rigid form, she had to get to the infirmary, the girl was barely breathing, her breath ragged with terror; then she was screaming, "Too hot! Can't….mom! Can't…"

The girl's arms bent up against her chest as she stiffened, her eyes rolled up into her head, she shook violently several seconds before she went completely limp.

"Willow, can you hear me?" Janet grabbed the girl's limp wrist. "Strong pulse, but her breathing's not too good. I should get her back to the Infirmary."

Was she going to be okay? Willow wasn't hyperventilating anymore; it was probably a good thing she'd passed out, her breathing had started to even out now.

Daniel followed Janet out of the Mess hall unaware of the silence he was leaving behind for the second time in the last hour.

What the _hell _was going on?

After Daniel, Janet and a scared Xander stepped into the elevator they waited tensely; looking at the redhead for signs of lack of breathing. They sagged with relief when Willow seemed to have started to breathe normally again.

Level 21 finally opened up to them and they stepped out of the elevator; Janet checked Willow's breathing and pulse again.

"Apart from the lack of consciousness she seems to be fine," she said. "But, just to be sure, I want her put to bed in the Infirmary; in case anything else happens."

Daniel nodded, "She…I think she had a flashback-

"A flashback?" said Janet in shock.

"You mean what I had?" asked Xander curiously. He tugged on Daniel's shirt imploringly.

Janet's gaze switched from him to Xander, her look softened and she knelt down to the boy's level, "Y-You had a…a flashback?"

Xander looked at her, "I…I think so."

Daniel and Janet looked at each other in mute anger and shock.

"Sorry," Xander muttered looking down.

Daniel sighed.

Samantha Carter sat in front of the computer in shocked sadness as she read what was written about Willow Rosenberg and Alexander Harris, she'd done a search using the names that the kids had given her and she'd come up with the results.

"Carter?" asked Jack curiously, his voice was tinged with worry. Anybody who didn't know him as well as they did would miss it.

General Hammond, Jack and Teal'c peered at the screen as they stood behind her; she read the results out.

"Willow Rosenberg was born in 1981…died 1990, car accident; five months away from her tenth birthday," announced Sam closing her eyes briefly. "She lived in Sunnydale California."

"Sunny-sounding town," said Jack carelessly, though a shadow of sadness had darkened his eyes. "Heard Mayor Ryan's a real peach."

Mayor Ryan had been with Sunnydale for the last twelve years.

Sam nodded, not really listening, "She knew Xander, he lived two blocks away from her. But- he died in late 1989, he was about to turn ten…

Her heart sank with sadness, "Anthony and Jessica Harris were charged with second degree murder, child-abuse, child-neglect and battery. They've been in imprisoned for the last nine years."

And they sure as hell weren't getting out any time soon; Sam looked at the news report of the incident, "Nine-year-old boy found beaten to death in the back yard of his home; neighbours called the police after hearing screams…parents were found drunk in their lounge, half-asleep and covered in blood."

Jack was looking rather pale as he glared at the screen from behind Sam, whilst Teal'c was looking at the General, he asked, "What reason do parents have for taking their own children's lives? I would not think there was such a reason."

"There isn't Teal'c," replied Jack. "Our...well, Earth gets pretty screwed up sometimes."

Teal'c blinked and nodded silently, he said nothing further but the tick in his jaw said just about everything anyone needed to know about what the Jaffa was feeling.

"God, how could any parent do that to their own child?" asked Sam rhetorically. She shook her head, looking at the screen, then she frowned. "Willow died nine months after Xander, in September. Xander died three days after Christmas of '89."

"Is there a link there?" asked the General as Sam started typing furiously at the keyboard.

The blonde shook her head, "After Xander was killed Willow's grades took an abrupt nosedive, she went from being an A+ student to completely flunking her tests; the notes say that she was prescribed Anti-Depressants."

"Damn," muttered Jack. "And her parents?"

"They were out of California for the entire month on a book tour, Xander's death happened within that month," she explained, looking at the notes. "They were gone for yet another month in September '90, they came back on the tenth after they found out that the 'sitter they'd given Willow had failed to arrive."

She's been at home alone for a month at nine years old because her damn parents hadn't even bothered to at least _wait _for the 'sitter to arrive? Poor kid must have been a mess.

"In the morning of the thirteenth of September two people walking their dogs passed Rosenberg's house and heard fighting," Sam continued to read out loud. "They said that they had witnessed a redheaded child storm out of the house; she looked very distressed and had walked straight in front of a car."

Sam rubbed her eyes looking upset, "They'd tried to call her back away from the car, but she didn't seem to have heard them. She died later in hospital, head injuries were too severe."

She jumped as her CO slammed his fist into the table angrily, "Sir, Willow and Xander did exist in our world; but they died nine or ten years ago, and suddenly younger versions of themselves turn up here with no memories. Except their own names."

That didn't make any sense!

"Alternate reality?" suggested Sam, as the idea suddenly entered her mind.

"Are you sure these are actually the alternate reality doubles of Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris?" asked Hammond, he looked tired; the brown hair curling around his head made him look a little younger…and less bald.

Sam shook her head slightly, "I'm almost certain, sirs. Janet said the blood test results should be back by now, so we'll find out for sure soon."

Where was Janet anyway?

Daniel waved Janet over hastily, "She's waking up." He watched as her eyes opened, then squinted and shut again. "Hey, you're going to be okay. You're in the Infirmary."

"Throat hurts," muttered Willow as she struggled to open her eyes again. Xander clung onto the bed, his eye wide, staring at his friend.

Daniel handed her a Styrofoam cup of water, it had a straw in it, "Drink it slowly, don't want you to throw up, do we?"

Willow shook her head and then winced as she sipped some water, Daniel took it from her after she was finished, "How do you feel?"

"You fainted and everything!" Xander piped up, looking concerned. "Are you 'kay?"

The redhead looked at Xander and then smiled brightly and nodded, "'m fine."

"That's good," he replied, just as happy.

Willow then frowned at the end of her hospital bed, looking subdued, "I remembered, before I…um, fainted."

"Remembered what?" asked Daniel and Xander at the same time, they glanced at each other briefly.

She didn't say anything, just looked more and more scared as the seconds ticked by, finally she tried to roll out of the bed.

"Will?" Xander looked confused.

"Hey, you're staying in that bed, young missy!" ordered Janet, she helped Willow back onto the bed.

Willow looked at her with wide, scared eyes and then suddenly there was a translucent sheet of red in front of the girl, Janet looked carefully and realized quickly that it wasn't a sheet.

"Whoa…uh?" muttered Daniel as he looked at the force-field around the girl; he knew it was a force-field, but it kinda looked like a red bubble. As Jack would say, 'Cool'.

"How do you _do _that!?" Xander exclaimed in amazement. "That's so cool."

Willow just stared at them, "P-please don't burn me," she stuttered, eyes brimming with tears.

Burn her?

"We wouldn't do that?" said Janet in shock and concern. "Why would you think we would do that?"

Willow just stared at them, ready to bolt; she stared at the red bubble that surrounded her and looked half angry, half guilty, "I didn't mean to."

"That's okay," coaxed Daniel carefully. "Everything's going to be okay, you don't need to be scared around us."

"You said they were nice," Xander remarked, looking up at Willow. "You told me they were nice; but you can't lie good. So, you think they're nice too. Right?"

Willow looked at him, conflicted, and most of all, confused, "I…I…." she looked down at her hands, which clutched the sheets tightly. "T-they said I was a witch…they…"

Xander looked perplexed, "Huh? But, you can't be a witch! Witches are evil and…and they _like _frogs! You don't like frogs!"

Willow winced slightly and muttered, "Icky."

"Who said?" asked Daniel gently as he knelt by the bed; arms crossed on it.

Willow just looked at him, unsure, and then her eyebrow creased and she looked as if she was trying to remember something, "Mom."

The shield dissolved, "I…It was really hot." She burst into tears.

Daniel's features tightened as she continued sobbing, he looked at the sheets clutched in her hands; he wondered what her parents had done, they were obviously completely sadistic nuts.

What else did they do?

Willow sniffled, and looked at him, "So…y-you're not g-going to tie me up and burn me? Right?"

Tie her up and-

Daniel frowned, "No, of course not. We…we aren't like them, okay?"

Please, trust them…

Willow nodded slowly, "O-okay, I guess."

Sounding doubtful, but better than an outright 'no'.

"That's great," he smiled at her and hoped that would make her feel better.

Willow smiled back at him.

They were human, Jack was surprised. After the stunts Little Red had pulled he'd expected at least _one _of them to be an alien, but nope. They were both one-hundred percent human…so then, what was with Willow?

She was completely human in every way, according to Frasier. _Except _that Willow was blowing things up, making hair grow on bald men and making big bubbles, apparently anyway.

"I can't explain it," said Doctor Frasier, scanning the chart she held in her hands. "In _every _way they're human, physiologically they're the same as us."

"So, then how is it possible?" asked General Hammond perplexed. "How is she able to do what she can do and why are they here in the first place?"

Maybe they _were _Asgard and they just beamed themselves in…it would certainly explain a few things…if only it were that simple.

Janet shook her head, "I can't answer either question correctly, sirs. I have no idea." She placed her chart onto the surface of her desk and sighed. "But, what I can say is that both these children, wherever they came from, were badly abused. As I've already told all of you, they have a lot of scarring, but it's not only physical damage."

He hated it when the words 'kids' and 'damaged' ended up in the same sentence; it didn't sit right with him, nor with anybody else in the room.

The doc continued, "Both the children have experienced flashbacks, the first time we saw them have one was a little while ago in the commissary; Daniel saw Xander having one and took him outside. After that he calmed down, but Daniel said that it was obvious that the boy was reliving some past abuse by his father."

Jack looked through the small rectangular window on the door and saw that Daniel was entertaining the children as they sat on the Infirmary beds, faint sounds of laughter drifted in through the door making him smile.

How could anyone hurt them? What their parents did to those children was _disgusting_, they didn't deserve to have children; he was going to make sure, if it came to it, that people knew that and that those kids would never get sent back to them…not that they would. Their reality's version of Willow and Xander were both dead; both victims of their parents and of life in general.

So, where _did _those kids come from?

"The second incident was when Willow passed out in the Mess hall about twenty minutes later, now, Daniel said that Willow woke up and told them about her mom burning her…obviously her mom didn't get very far. It seems that Willow's parents know about her…um…powers and think that she's a witch-

WHAT?! "So, she tried to burn that little girl at a stake!?"

Like at the Witch Trials?

Janet blinked, looking confused; then her face set grimly, "I guess that very well might have happened."

"God," muttered Sam in horror.

Janet nodded, "Physically, they're both fine. If you don't count the scars and abrasions; they aren't in any immediate danger; mentally, however, they're both very traumatized."

Was anyone expecting anything different?

"Dr. McKenzie?" suggested Hammond.

"Sir, with all due respect, are you _nuts_!?" said Jack in disbelief. "They're _not _going to be subjected to McKenzie! He's okay, I'll grant you, but…well, ask Daniel!"

Daniel almost ended up spending the rest of his life in a white-padded cell with a straight-jacket of all things; no way were they sending Willow and Xander to that moron.

"I agree," said the General. "There are other counsellors with security clearance."

Thank god for that. But he had to know…

"General, have you told your superiors about the new developments?" asked Jack, he hid the worry from his voice well. "Say, about Willow's powers?"

Hammond sighed, "I told them a short time ago."

Crap.

"General Hammond, I do not believe that that is in the children's best interest," said Teal'c, his jaw ticked slightly.

"Neither do I, Teal'c," said Hammond with the air of authority, but his voice was laced with regret. "But I have my orders, like everyone else under the military chain of command."

Jack understood that, he did. But all he wanted to do was to go and tell the 'Higher ups' where they could shove their damn orders; hopefully up where the sun failed to shine.

"Major Samuels and Colonel Maybourne will be here soon," announced Hammond with an edge of disapproval.

Aw hell.

What were the odds of Willow turning them into rats? Or maybe cockroaches?

No, that would be too nice for those sleazy, jumped-up, oily power-mongers…he could go on internally insulting them all day if he could be bothered to-

Oh! Yeah….dung beetles…

They'd make an uninteresting addition to the dung beetle population, Jack smiled slightly at that…if only they were _that _lucky.

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